Striction
by emmals16
Summary: "The frictional force which hinders an object from moving while in contact with another." A.K.A this situation, only a little more complicated. Just remember, it's pretty difficult to navigate an unknown section of sewers, especially when your brother can barely stand upright.
1. Part 1

**(2012 show)**

 **Striction- "The frictional force which hinders an object from moving while in contact with another."**

 **I'm going to be honest and say I have no idea what this is. Yay. With that established, I have returned with my need for angst that may or may not be well written.**

 **This is going to be the first of three parts. The second part is done and I'll probably get that up either tomorrow or the day after (*ahem* or the day after that . . .), but the third part is still being written, so that might take a little longer, depending on how I feel writing it and if I like where it's going.**

 **Okay, it's 2:30 in the morning, I am _tired_ , soooooo . . . hope you enjoy it!**

 **(Disclaimer: I definately do not own anything related to this, for I am poor, and I doubt the people who created these characters are poor.)**

* * *

Sloshing water waving around his feet. Panting. And a sound similar to fingernails on a chalk board. All the while, swarming thoughts and a tightness in his movements.

Raphael hated feeling this way. Hated feeling like his world was crashing down around him, and it was going to try its damndest to crush him while doing it. A piece of cement fell a few feet to his right, as though it was trying to reinforce this. Raph, however, didn't even spare the falling stone a sideways glance. He was focused on other matters.

Bent over, dragging his brother through the freezing cold water growing in depth by the second. He really couldn't afford to panic right now; especially not about some falling debri. That didn't mean he didn't growl when pebbles rained down on him, forcing him to shake his head to get it off.

He stopped moving, trying to peer around the dark tunnels he was lost in. His breath came fast, white puffs blowing into the air in front of him, and he couldn't quite get the shaky feeling in his chest to go away. Did he have to go right? Left? Had he been going the wrong way this entire time? His heart began to sink ever more.

They had to get out of this section of sewers. He wasn't sure exactly how far they had fallen, but as soon as that explosion hit, the entire ground went tumbling down. He didn't know where Don or Mikey was. Not to mention April and Casey. Splinter was thankfully safe in the lair. And here Leo was. Out cold, being dragged through freezing cold water and gunk; and Raph had no way to know exactly how banged up he was

He took a deep breath, squinting in the dark. There was just enough light from random electronics and breaks in the ceiling, but other than that: pitch black. So, with that, he chose to follow a single shred of artificial light glittering a little ways in the distance. It was the only sort of sanctuary he could think of to go towards.

Raph hefted his brother a little higher, still being forced to drag him on the cement ground. He got a little banged up too, and it was preventing him from properly caring for his brother. Carrying him would hurt too much, and he was already forcing his aching arm to deal with what he was doing.

It took a while to wade through the now knee deep, icy water, but once Raph got over to the shred of light, he let out a long breath of air at the discovery of an incline. A steep one at that. Enough so that they were a few feet above the flooding water nearby (at least for a few minutes).

Light. Safety. And dry land. All he could ask for in these current conditions. He climbed up onto the inclined ground, lifting Leo up onto it after him and trying to ignore the way he grunted with every jostle. Reaching a hand forward, Raph leaned against the cement wall covered in faded yellow markings for support, dragging Leo the few more feet. Kneeling down, Raph propped him up against the wall, tender movements. He still didn't know how bad he was.

A soft grunt once Leo was propped up, followed by a series of worrisome hacking coughs and breaths. Raph held his hands up, not knowing what to do. He didn't know anything about this sort of thing! Donnie was the genius who took care of illness and what not. Not him!

"Oh, man." Raph muttered, deciding to simply lay a hand on his brother's plastron in what he hoped was a somewhat soothing manner. Getting an idea, Raph reached for where he kept his T-Phone. He could only hope that it remained unharmed throughout the entire fiasco earlier.

He got it in his free hand, keeping the other pressed lightly to Leo's plastron. He clicked it on, and it was like a shread of hope enveloped him. Light. Blinding, horrible, yet fantastic light flashed him in the face. He groaned, bending backwards in reaction to the sudden change in lighting.

After the initial surprise, Raph jumped into action, holding the phone up above Leo. And that was when his heart sank.

Scrapes. Cracks. Bruises. Blood . . .

" _Oh, man_ ", he muttered, louder this time, earning a slight twitch from his floored brother, "What did you do to yourself, Leo . . . "

He ran his finger lightly across a particularly large crack running halfway down the middle of his plastron. That was not good. He could only wonder what his shell looked like . . .

A sharp intake of breath forced Raph's eyes to find his brother's face. One blue eye blearily opened, trying to find something to focus on until he found Raph, turning his head in a weak attempt to get a better look at him.

At the movement, his face scrunched up, one non-swollen eye slamming close, and a gargled groan escaping his mouth. Raph exhaled thickly, eyes wide and concerned. He reset his comforting hand on Leo's plastron, and set the T-Phone down, face up so the light could still shine in the small area. The other hand found Leo' shoulder, giving it a tender squeeze.

"Just . . . chill for a sec, big bro." he said, uncertain of his words, but the stress began leaking from Leo's face and shoulders immediately after the words left his mouth. The bleary eye opened again, swollen one trying to do the same (inevitably failing), and it softened slightly. Raph tensed, awaiting for his brother to say something. Maybe give him some sort of instruction? Maybe?

Instead, the eye closed slowly, head lulling to the side. The harsh breaths calmed slightly, but they still echoed in the surrounding area. Raph bit his lip, looking around at the surrounding area once again, hoping to find a way to even higher ground. His eyes met the water that was beginning to gain on them. Only after the few minutes of breaking, and they were already going to have to move soon . . .

Raph sighed, patting his hand on his now unconscious brother's shoulder, "Just for a sec

. . ."

* * *

 _The Foot had made their way into the sewers. That was what had made the four of them decide to go in the first place. It would've been fine if they weren't so close to the lair. They were sure it would've only been a matter of time before the Foot figured out where they always disappeared to, but them finding the lair was a completely different issue._

 _April and Casey had urged Leo that they should go along too. More people to track down the foot. More teams._

" _I think we should split into two groups." Leo said after a second of thinking, "We don't know how they're traveling down here, or how many of them there actually are."_

 _Master Splinter volunteered to keep guard at the lair. If any Foot soldiers got passed the six of them, then he would have to keep the Foot from getting in._

" _It's just in case an ambush happens." Leo explained further, putting a thoughtful finger to his chin and staring at the five faces watching him (one of which tapped his foot eagerly), "Raph, April, and I will get the North and East. Don, Mikey, and Casey, you get the South and West."_

" _Good!" Raph exclaimed with a roll of his eyes, "Now that that's taken care of, let's go kick some Foot butt!"_

" _Do foots have butts?" asked Mikey, causing his surrounding brothers to grimace._

" _Feet." Don corrected, "And no, they do not."_

" _The_ _Foot does, though. And I can't wait any longer, oh fearless leader o' mine! So, let's go!"_

 _The red banded turtle spun on his heel, turning towards the North side of the lair and began leaving. April followed closely behind, not wanting to lose him. She looked behind her at Leo in an exasperated manner that said "hurry up!"_

" _Remember, if anything happens call us." Leo said to Donnie quickly before running after the other two who had already left the lair._

 _It had just rained. It didn't really matter- or wouldn't have really mattered if the circumstances had been different, but all of that excess water from the streets above began flowing into the sewers, flooding a lot of the canals. It made transportations difficult. Even if they were to walk on the walkways beside the canals, the stone was more slippery than normal, forcing them to be careful while walking._

" _We should proceed with caution . . ." Leo muttered, gripping the hilt of his katana without pulling it from its sheath. His eyes darted every which way in anticipation._

 _Raph groaned, "Please, Leo." he turned behind him, "This is our territory. We have the upper hand!"_

" _That may be so . . ." April mumbled unsure. She was trying to see if she could sense anyone around them. That would be beneficial in the long run, but she was having no such luck, "but we aren't even sure how many are down here, or where they are, or if The Shredder is down here with them . . . shall I continue?"_

" _You're paranoid." Raph insisted, much to Leo's annoyance, but the older kept quiet, "There's no way Shredder would dirty his shiny boots just to come down here himself."_

" _Still." Leo said, and left it at that. Arguing with his brother seemed pointless at times, especially about such topics._

 _They walked for a while longer. Scanning nearly every inch of the underground. They never found a sign of The Foot being down there. Nobody was there, and there wasn't any leftover weapons, or footprints. Nothing._

" _Well, maybe Casey imagined it?" April offered with a halfhearted smile, "I mean, it's dark down here, and you know how our brains can play tricks on us in the dark."_

 _Leo smiled, "I really wouldn't be surpri-"_

 _A flash of silver flew by Raph's face, startling him before hitting Leo from behind. He gasped in surprise, spinning around to see what had happened. With his back now turned to April, she spotted the flying object piercing out of Leo's shell. A ninja star._

 _She pulled it out, holding it up. The two turtles made eye contact with her and the star. The Foot were here._

 _Her eyes grew wide, "Um, guys?"_

 _More stars came flying at them, and Leo immediately turned his back to them, standing in front of April with his head down. They all either bounced or stuck in his shell. Raph took the opportunity to charge at them, wielding his sai and ducking to avoid being hit by a stray star. He found his target, and pounced._

 _One down and . . . he blinked in the darkness, staring ahead to see how many more there were. He couldn't see anything, and couldn't hear anything else except the water rushing in from the pipes around them. Thunder exploded above them where a manhole cover was._

 _And that was when they attacked, just as the flash went off, lighting up the small area only by a little, revealing their hiding places. The Foot jumped at Raph, swords and knives at the ready. Swinging at his head and legs._

 _Leo ran at them, trying to provide backup for his brother. Pulling his swords from his sheath, he sliced at the closer few attacking Raph. Sparks burst from where they were sliced in half, falling down into the water that raged on below. Raph took a deep breath, nodding in appreciation towards Leo._

 _Some Foot soldiers went for April, attacks with the same spirit they did for Leo and Raph. She held her own, however. Using her fan and other skills to knock them back, but as they kept coming, she began to realize something, "There's too many, Leo!"_

 _Leo kicked a soldier out of the way, ignoring the splash that they made. April was right. They seemed to keep coming and coming. They needed Don's group here for backup. He tried reaching for his T-Phone, but just as he did so, a whack to the back of his shell sent him tumbling to the water rapids below._

 _The phone was toast, he knew this as soon as he hit the water. He needed April's, or Raph's. Swimming to the surface, he spluttered, trying to locate the two of them, and trying to find purchase on the walls. It was too slippery, and his swords . . ._

 _He panicked, spinning in the water, feet kicking in an attempt to touch the bottom. He didn't have his swords. No protection. He needed to be able to help! He chose to use his grappling hook, swinging it over the side and hooking it on a pipe above him. That would hold him long enough for him to climb back up._

" _Raph!" he called, and he realized now that his brother was already trying to get to the bank so he could help him up, but that's not what he was worried about now, "Get out of here, use your T-Phone and call Don for backup!"_

 _Raph gave him an incredulous look, "What?!"_

" _There's too many, Raph!" April said, kicking a soldier away and stumbling over to Raph, putting her back to his shell and looking at the surrounding enemies, "We need their help!"_

" _So you just want us to leave you?!"_

 _In the chaos, Leo saw something blinking in the distance. It tore his thoughts away from giving a response to his obviously upset brother. Red light, and if he listened really hard, he could hear beeping. What was . . ._

 _He went stone cold._

" _Leo!"_

 _The rope broke, and the tide took him again, tumbling towards the machine._ Bomb; _Leo thought dimly, completely oblivious to Raph, who was yelling and running down the walkway towards him and the fact that he was getting closer to it. They had brought a bomb down here. That was their plan! FIgure out where they lived, and blow the entire place up._

 _Was it on a time already? If they escaped (referring to Raph and April) then the Foot could carry on this plan. And that bomb looked_ _ **big.**_ _It was hanging off of the top of a bridge going across the waterway, and it was right in his sights. If he passed under the bridge, then he could . . ._

 _He had an idea, but Raph wasn't going to like it._

 _Something suddenly wrapped around his forearm. Something wet, and muscular. He looked up to be met with two glaring green irises. It almost made him flinch away._

" _Why are you always forcing me to save your butt!" he growled, hanging from his other arm with his sai stabbed into the wall. April was still above them, looking down at them in between taking out soldiers, or blocking attacks. She was being pushed farther away from the area by the sheer numbers of Foot soldiers._

 _Leo gripped Raph with his other hand, "Listen, I have a plan, but you and April need to hurry and get out of here. Call Don, Mikey, and Casey."_

 _Raph immediately began shaking his head, gripping Leo tighter, "Like Hell. You're coming with us. Stop being like this, moron . . ."_

" _Listen," Leo snarled, "That's a bomb, I need to get it to wash down the water way so they can't get it back."_

 _Raph gaped, "You're just going to go face to face with a bomb? Are you nuts?"_

 _Leo smiled sheepishly, quickly twisting Raph's wrist which forced him to let go. He splashed back into the water, hearing Raph protests even when under. He rose to the surface again, spluttering and frantically looking above him for when that red flashing light would come into sight. There! He saw it. He fished for his ninja star, and prepared to throw it, but something hard and sharp hit him right as he threw it. Red cloth wrapped around the handle. His sword. They threw his sword at him._

 _He got dunked into the water at the shock of it, and watched as the bright light enveloped the everything._

 _He had wanted to somehow knock it off the bridge by hitting one of the pipes jutted out of it for carrying, but he missed, and hit it head on. Now, the thing was exploding directly above him. And all he could hope was that Raph had ran._

 _He was on the walkway by then. He saw the foot soldier, barely being held together by wires throw Leo's sword. He didn't have enough time to do anything before the white light blinded all of them. April was far away from him now, clear in a different tunnel, but he could hear her startled scream from where he was. The ground heaved under him, and before he knew it, he was in a freefall. Loose stone surrounded him, hitting him, annoying him even in the quick motion._

 _Ice cold water encased him, his head hit something hard, and he was out._

* * *

 _When he awoke he was beyond confused. Soft splashes at his feet, and a pounding headache. The taste of something putrid lingered in his mouth and he blinked away the dark spots dancing across his vision._

" _Ugh", he moaned, watching a stone fall from the broken ceiling to land a few feet from him, "What happened?"_

 _The ceiling was a cobbled mess of stone and stalactites threatening to fall any second. And it was so far away . . . so very far away . . ._

 _Water suddenly splashed up onto Raph's face, going into his mouth and nose, sending him into a panic. He sat up, crying out when his arm didn't exactly go with him. When he looked, he saw a large boulder sitting atop it. He was a bit startled by the sight. He hadn't even been aware of it being there until now. How did it . . . ?_

 _He noticed how most of the material below his arm was random gunk and mud. The cement having broke away upon impact of some other stone apparently. Raph silently thanked whatever made that happen, and began tugging at his arm. He held his breath, fighting against the pain he was experiencing, knowing that the longer he pulled, the shorter amount of time he'd be stuck underneath it._

 _The water around him was growing deeper, he realized. A waterfall type of thing was pouring heavily down from the broken ceiling. Again, he was surprised he hadn't noticed that until now._

 _He paused in his pulling, sliding his other hand under the boulder and lifting upwards with all of his might. He screamed, getting the large stone at least a few inches off the ground with sheer strength and successfully freeing his battered hand from beneath it._

 _Now free, he jumped to his feet, stumbling backwards and nearly falling again when his head offered him a dizzy spell. He must've hit his head. Some sort of concussion or something. Probably not too bad if he could think straight and stay upright._

 _As if on instinct, Raph reached for his sai. Everytime he felt defenseless like he was now, he would do this. The only difference this time was that they weren't there. Missing. He couldn't really think about it now, whether he wanted to or not. His head was spinning._

 _He tried thinking of why he felt like he was forgetting something. What had happened . . ._

 _His eyes shot upward, fear now lurking in them as he stared around at the dimly lit surrounding area. This was because of that explosion. The fight with the Foot. Bomb._

 _Leo._

 _He went clambering through the water, all other thoughts forgotten. He no longer felt pain in his arm, or dizziness in his head. Nothing._

 _A large mountain of boulders sat in the middle, but all around it were more, and if Leo was right there when that explosion happened-_

" _Oh . . ." he mumbled, putting a hand to his head, trying not to imagine his big brother trapped and crushed beneath hundred pound boulders._

 _He went back to searching, calling out his brother's name repeatedly, digging through the piles of rocks, moving on if he couldn't lift one. He'd go back if he had to. He was going to find his brother._

 _The water continued to rise, inch by inch relentlessly. Time was of the essence, and Raph began feeling the panic rising all throughout his body._

 _Then he heard coughing. Loud, hacking, wet coughing, and it made him spin on his heel sending tidal waves of water splashing around him as he followed the sound._

" _Leo!" he called, trying to locate it again. It had been over here. Near the center of the disaster area, and he was going to find him. He was._

" _Leo, where are ya?!" again, he yelled as loud as he could._

 _No answer, but there didn't have to be one. Somehow, he didn't exactly know how, but he saw blue. The color shining in the darkness like a signal. And that was all he needed for him to go charging in the direction of the color. Eyes stayed locked on the color, the figure of his brother becoming more clear, as well as what had happened to him._

 _A large pile of boulders about the size of the one that was on Raph's arm laid around and ontop of Leo. His head and arm were the only body parts sticking out from the pile. Water leaked down from above, flowing over him in a continuous sheet. He was practically being crushed and drowned at the same time._

 _Raph immediately went to action, trying to release his big brother from the hold of the rocks. They were all just as heavy as the one from earlier, and that meant it was no easy task. And the growing water making everything slippery wasn't helping at all._

" _Hey, Leo?" he asked, breathing hard after forcing one boulder to crash beside him, "You there?"_

 _No answer, and he bit his lip nervously. Thoughts loomed over him, but he shook his head, clearing them all and continued to move the rocks. Finally, after about a dozen boulders, he successfully had his brother freed. Without another thought, he wrapped his arms around Leo's shell and plastron and pulled him off the pile underneath him._

 _The water splashed on them, and he gazed around frantically for a way to go. A place he could head to get away from the water, and the boulders, everything. He needed somewhere to rest, and check things over._

 _Seeing a slight opening in a far corner, raph took his chances and began dragging Leo with him, failing at trying to carry him any other way. Hopefully there would be somewhere somewhat safe there._

* * *

No signal. Don could make practically anything, but his phone failed to connect if it got a little wet and got too far down in the ground. Peachy.

Raph sighed, leaning his head back against the cement wall behind him to ease the pounding headache beating behind his eyes. It started awhile ago, but he hadn't actually had time to think about the pain in his head until now. Until his thoughts decided to calm down a bit, that is.

 _At least it still gives us some light_ , he decided, turning the phone off and taking to sit in the dark.

The water seemed to have slowed down, if not stop completely, and Raph really couldn't be more thankful for that. Leo hadn't stirred since, what Raph assumed to be, about an hour. Apparently the guy needed the rest. Raph couldn't see how he _wouldn't_ need rest. How banged up he was . . .

It almost looked as bad as that one time he went flying through April's window . . . given, he hadn't had a chance to look at his brother's shell. If that was cracked, things would be a whole lot worse than they were now. Just like-

 _No_ , Raph thought, _he spent months out after that. No way he's going to do that now, right?_

His eyes slowly turned to the sleeping form of Leo, lying down, chin to his chest, having slid down the wall a little since Raph had perched him up. _Whatever suits him_ , Raph had thought.

He swallowed, shaking the thought of that fateful day out of his mind. He was sure Leo hadn't enjoyed his time just as much as Raph didn't. Just as much as everyone didn't.

He decided to stay sitting there for at least a little longer, massaging his sore arm. He was sure it was fractured or something. Maybe not broken, but there was definitely more to it than a simple sprain or bruise. He could still use it. He could hold things, move things, pick things up. It just _seriously_ hurt when he did.

Soon they were going to have to move on, and he was going to have to suck it up in order to help out Leo.

As if on cue, to his right Raph heard the clearing of a throat. Hoarse and obviously filled with discomfort, but it still made Raph perk up significantly. The red banded turtle flailed onto his knees, hustling over to Leo whose face was creased in . . . something. Pain? Gosh, Raph hoped not, but he didn't exactly doubt it either.

"Yo, Leo?" he mumbled quietly after a second or two. Raph watched him, eyes gleaming in the darkness waiting impatiently for his brother to respond somehow. And he did. Leo reacted immediately, in fact. One usable eye blinking open, and Raph was sure to turn the phone back on in order to ensure Leo could see fine. He blinked slowly, studying Raph for a moment. Then he sighed, closing his eye with another clearing of his throat.

"Are you . . . alright?"

First words, and of course they're something like that. Raph couldn't help it, his temper flared a little, "Really Leo?! Have you looked at yourself yet?!"

That bleary eye opened again, and, god how Raph's heart jumped at this, he smiled lopsidedly, "I'll take that . . . as a yes, then."

Raph didn't quite know what to say to that so he sat there silently, rubbing the fingers on his right hand together anxiously. Leo seemed to feel content with the silence, keeping his eye open, but just sort of staring off into the space ahead of him. _What's going on his his head,_ Raph wondered briefly.

After a moment, Raph found his words, "What were you thinking?"

Leo rose an eye ridge at him, obviously confused to his brother's question. Raph resisted the urge to grow annoyed at Leo's ignorance, and instead clarified himself.

"That bomb. You blew yourself up, man. What were you thinking?"

Leo frowned this time, and somewhere in Raph he felt like he shouldn't have said anything, but he knew that question had been eating him up the entire time he sat in those dead silent tunnels.

"I . . . had to do . . . something."

Raph tried his hardest to ignore how feeble the forced pauses in Leo's speech were, and instead decided to continue the discussion. Leo probably wouldn't appreciate him babying him anyways, "No, you really didn't. At least not like that."

"What would . . . you have done then . . , Raph?"

Good question. Raph thought for a moment, and then gave up because he wasn't really into coming up with plans like that, "I don't know exactly, but we could have taken care of it together. You don't always have to do that sort of stuff alone, y'know."

Raph looked away, feeling a strange feeling in his stomach. Guilt? Why? Where did that come from? He forced it away, and when he looked back he saw Leo staring at him, a serious look on his face, corroded away in part from the exhaustion in his eyes.

"Raph . . . listen, I-" he stopped mid sentence, something spiking in his one visible eye, and Raph was about to question what the problem was when Leo suddenly began attempting to sit up. That wasn't good. Raph craned forward, dropping the T-Phone and setting his hands on his plastron.

"Dude, what are you doing?", but Leo ignored him, instead grabbing hold of one of his arms, and pulling himself the rest of the way up. Raph watched warily not really knowing what to do.

After a moment of staring off into the distance of the cavern-like tunnel, Leo finally said something, "The tunnel's flooding."

Raph understood now, but he didn't get how his brother discovered that all of a sudden, "Um, yeah. How do you-"

"There's water . . . coming up here."

Raph reacted in an instant. Standing, and looking at Leo's feet which were starting to be surrounded by the freezing water. Raph cursed under his breath, looking around at the two tunnels on either side of them. They were going to have to get moving before the water got too deep, but he didn't know which way they should go. Which way was right, and above that, he didn't know if it was actually a good thing to move Leo.

"Yo, Leo." he said, bending down next to his brother, who was trying to move away from the water by himself, "I'm going see which way we need to go, okay?"

His older brother, through clenched teeth, held his hand up, "Yeah, help . . . me up."

Raph didn't take his hand though, and eventually Leo looked up to see what the problem was, and when he did he saw Raph standing above him again, looking down with a frown tugging at his face, "Sorry, bro. I'll be back."

Leo panicked, "Wait!" his voice cracked, and Raph ran off before he had the chance to say anything more, "Raph . . . s-stop!"

But he didn't. Raph wanted to be sure that the tunnel he was going down would be the right one. Moving Leo more than he had to wasn't exactly up for a debate. And even though he could hear his brother yelling after him, he still knew he wasn't going to go back for him just yet.

Long and behold, his choice paid off. If he wasn't paying attention to the space in front of him, then Raph would have run right smack into a mountain of rubble. He skidded to a stop, teeth gritting together as he slipped and fell hard on his shell.

Muttering a string of curse, Raph rolled over, standing and running a hand along the blockade. Obviously, they wouldn't be able to go this way. It seemed like the explosion rattled things up in the infrastructure of the underground in more than just that one area. They had to be far enough away from where the explosion happened by now, but still, the damage was obvious.

He growled at the waste of time, spinning on his heel and rushing back to his brother's side. He found that that might actually be for the best, having one of their options not be an option any more. Then they won't have to think of the "what if they went the other way" because they wouldn't have even been able to anyways.

When he got back to their rest stop, the water had already risen significantly. It was up to his knees by then, and he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. Leo was over where he was before Raph left, struggling to try and stand. At the sight, Raph rushed over.

Leo offered him a sideways glance, and hissed through clenched teeth, "Help me . . . up."

Raph obliged without a word, wrapping one of his brother's arms around his shoulder, and putting one of his own around Leo's shell. When he hefted him up, Leo cried out and Raph stopped immediately after hearing it.

Then he felt it. A jagged edge dig into the hand supporting Leo's back. It was a deep crevice where there shouldn't be one, and Raph's body went cold. _Cracked._ Raph immediately panicked, trying to see in the dark, not knowing where the T-Phone was.

 _How bad was it?_

His neck was craned in an odd position, trying to see his brother's shell. He couldn't though, it was too dark.

Leo was saying something. He couldn't hear a thing, though.

But, the water. Their time was running out. He had to do something, but . . . should he move Leo? Was he alright. What should he do? _What should he do?_

He should set Leo down, he decided. Figure out what to do for his shell before they move one. He didn't care if they had enough time. He didn't want to risk Leo's well-being by moving him when he shouldn't. Raph moved to set Leo down.

"Don't . . ." Leo started, huffing air into his lungs like he had just run a mile or something, Raph watched him with weary eyes, halting in setting him back on the cement ground. Leo was pushing back with what little strength remained, his legs refusing to let Raph seat him, "Don't stop, just . . . help me."

Raph hesitated for only a moment, but seeing the water that was now to mid-thigh, he did as his older brother told him. Leo was the leader, not him. No matter how often the two of them fought over that fact, it remained as so. And even in a situation like this where he could make his choice a reality despite what Leo would say, he decided to just let Leo do what he did best.

It was hard. Hearing his brother cry out again, but he got him up to his feet successfully this time. It was painstaking for both of them, but he sighed deeply afterwards.

"Where . . . do we need . . . to go?" Leo asked in between heavy breaths.

Raph took a half step to his left, slowly so Leo knew which way they were going, "Here. The other way is blocked by rubble. No way around it."

Leo made a sound acknowledgment, and began walking beside his brother. The water made the trek even more difficult. Raph knew Leo was depending on him for the most part, and so he tried to make the experience as easy as possible, which meant no slipping, and no rough pulls away or anything of the sort.

And he succeeded for the most part. Only once did he almost fall over, and he didn't hear any sound of discomfort from his brother, though that might have been on purpose on his brother's part. He was a stubborn guy after all. After that, though, they were perfectly fine (ish).

They made it through the tunnel, which was thankfully unblocked, and found another wide open cavern type of thing. Running right through the middle of it looked to be train tracks of some sort. They weren't train tracks though. No trains ran through here . . . at least as far as he knew.

Raph chose to ignore it. No water was in the cavern at all, and that meant this was even better than their last place.

"We should stay here." Raph said, walking over to a wall on the far side, furthest away from the tunnel they came in from. That way, if the water did decide to flow even more to the point that it began coming into the cavern they were in, they'd still be far away from it.

Just as he was about to let Leo down, his brother tensed, pushed against Raph's movements, and stayed standing. Raph looked at Leo questionably, one eye ridge arched high and his mouth parted slightly. He didn't get it.

"No." Leo said simply. And Raph continued his lost gaze.

"What do ya mean, 'No'?" Raph asked, a little annoyed. Why couldn't he just sit down? They both knew he was in bad shape, and Leo needed to just rest while Don and Mikey came to find them. April had no doubt gone and gotten them, so it would only be a matter of time . . . right?

"I'm up." Leo said simply, straightening up and taking more of his weight off of Raph's shoulders to prove his point, "We should keep . . . moving. At least for as . . . long as I can manage"

Raph shook his head, "We need to wait here for Donnie and Mikey. If we move they won't be able to find us."

"They won't . . . anyways."

Raph growled, and Leo straightened even more, "Why the Hell won't they?"

"The cavern . . . we fell in is flooded." Leo reminded, "as well as the tunnels coming . . . to here. They wouldn't . . . risk coming through . . . all of that. They'd try to find another way around." he coughed harshly, and Raph considered forcing him to sit down anyways, "Because . . . they know we'd . . . try moving on."

Raph shook his head, "You _can't,_ Leo."

"I _will_ , Raph." He countered, and then his blue eyes met Raph's in the dim light, both ignited like fire despite his obvious exhaustion, "So, let's keep moving."

Raph could argue all day with Leo, and sometimes he would win the argument, or even the fight if it was a physical dispute. Leo and him were about even when it came to this. But, something in his brother's eyes made him wither, and he decided to give in. With another slow half-step, he and Leo began walking towards the next set of tunnels, choosing the one that seemed to look the most right and going that way.

They walked for what felt like hours, but really Raph couldn't tell how long it was. All he knew was that, about halfway through their walking, Leo began sagging into him more than he had throughout the beginning of their journey. Whether Leo like it or not, they were going to have to stop soon, and Raph knew it.

After that, Raph allowed for them to go until they found another cavern. This cavern was better than the others he'd seen. Less . . . trashy he guessed. More working lights there, and that was a decent sign. Maybe they were getting closer to somewhere familiar. If only he knew which way was home . . .

He got to a corner, one close to another tunnel just in case something happened. Their luck had been bad so far, so he wasn't going to doubt anything yet.

"Down you go, bro." He mumbled quietly as he began settling Leo against the two conjoined walls. Leo said nothing, but he felt Leo tense slightly, trying to help out in getting to the ground. Once settled, Raph slid down the wall beside his brother. He sighed deeply at finally being able to rest.

"I guess that we'll continue tomorrow, eh Leo?" he asked, crossing his arms as a draft from somewhere brought a chill up his spine.

Leo grunted, eye ridges drawn together with look of discomfort. Raph watched him for a second, then with a heavy sigh he wrapped one arm around his brother's shoulders and pulled him into his side carefully.

That was all it took. Moments later, he felt the even breaths of sleep from Leo, and then soon after that him too. He melted into sleep. Nothingness.


	2. Part 2

**Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!**

* * *

Something was bugging him. A continuous, annoying voice in his head that said something was happening. He didn't exactly know what, and at the moment he didn't really care. He was sleeping, and things rarely motivated him enough to wake up.

That being said, a soft touch to his arm seemed to do the trick. It took him a second to realize that the only one down here with him was Leo, so that meant Leo wanted something.

His emerald eyes opened slowly, and he turned to see what Fearless wanted. Leo was still leaning on him for the most part, but he looked better. At least, Raph thought so . . . that didn't really say much. And a bright light shone in Leo's face.

"Is that my T-Phone?" Raph asked, pushing himself further up. Apparently, he had been so far into la la land that he had managed to fall over onto his side. Whatever. He felt like it was a good nap.

As soon as he tried to move though, he felt the tension that the nap had brought. He felt stiff. Raph wasn't sure how long he had slept, but it was apparently enough to bring awareness to exactly how beat up _he_ managed to get. His head especially . . .

He ignored it, at least as best as he could, going back to why Leo was holding up the busted T-Phone. He was actually surprised to see it. He hadn't exactly remembered grabbing it, which meant Leo must've.

Raph peeked over his brother's shoulder, completely expecting to see the blank screen he had seen back when he first checked for a signal. But, that wasn't it. His eyes lit up, a relieved smile popping up onto his face.

"It must be . . . because we moved to higher ground . . . or something." Leo said, reading the message that was taking up the entire screen. _Messages_ to be more precise. From multiple people, too. Mikey, Don, April, and even Casey. They were all looking for them.

" _Dude! Where are you?!" -_ Mikey

" _Are you guys alright? April came and got us, we're on our way."_ \- Donnie  
" _Raph, if you answer tell me the situation. Where you're at, how you guys are, you get what I mean"_ -Donnie

" _Raph! Answer! Now! C'mon man."_ \- Casey

 _We're all looking for you two. Splinter too. Just hang on, guys." -_ April

"We should probably try to contact them." Raph said, reaching for his phone. Leo didn't really put up much of a fight with giving it to Raph, but dropped his arm limply in his lap after the device was out of his hands.

"I already tried." Leo said quietly, staring at his feet, "It's like . . . the signal is only going . . . one way. We can't send . . . but we can receive . . . messages."

While Leo spoke, Raph kept trying to get the phone to work. Pressing random buttons after his first attempt to send something failed. It was a simple message. " _Lost in sewers. Explosion. Leo's hurt. Is tracking working? We need help."_ but he was frustrated that he couldn't send it. Was something broken in the phone? Raph didn't exactly think that phones would just keep you from sending messages while still letting you receive them. That didn't make any sense!

Raph growled loudly, dropping the phone in front of him and rubbing his hands across his face. The two of them at in silence after that. The one who broke the silence was Leo, reaching across Raph to pick the phone up from off the ground. Raph peeked out from between his fingers, watching Leo with an passive gaze.

Phone in hand, Leo set a hand on his brother's shoulder, pushing off it in an attempt to stand. Raph moved immediately, "Wow, hold on."

Raph didn't want him moving quite yet. He had completely forgotten about how he had wanted to check out Leo's battered shell before they fell asleep. It was a priority, and he silently yelled at himself about how he could have forgotten such a thing.

"Um . . ." Raph mumbled uncomfortably, "can ya turn around for me . . ?"

Leo looked startled for a second, but his neutral expression returned almost immediately, and, though struggling with the action, rotated himself so that his back was facing his younger brother.

Raph swallowed thickly, taking the T-Phone from his brother and turning it back on. The light flashed him in the face, blinding him for a split second before he aimed the screen at his brother's shell.

Just as he had thought, there it was. A deep crack in Leo's shell. It ran only a short distance from the top edge of his shell to the center. Raph stared at it for a long second, not quite sure what to do now that he was certain. What did he think he could do? He's not Donnie. Donnie's the smart one! The one who knows exactly what to do when one of them's hurt. Heck, even Master Splinter could help Leo right now.

As much as it made his stomach churn, he had no idea what he was doing. He was just like Mikey in this situation: clueless.

Leo apparently caught onto Raph's silence and what the cause of it was, "It's cracked."

Raph couldn't help it, he chuckled lightly, "That's pretty obvious, dude."

Leo hummed quietly, reaching around his head and untying his mask. It was covered in the grime that the sewers were festering with, but he didn't seem to care. The blue cloth dropped into his lap, and then he handed it to his brother.

"Here." he said, holding it out for his brother to take, "It's not much . . . but it might work . . .to be sure it doesn't get . . . any . . . worse."

Raph stared at it for a second before taking it. He hated how Leo could keep such a cool head in really any stressful situation. Yet, that quality seemed to be one of his greatest assets. He kind of wished he could do that, too, instead of freaking out about everything. Be it getting angry about their enemies, or not being able to focus on the task at hand during stressful situations . . . such as this.

Raph sighed, straightening out the filthy mask and pressing it against the cracked part of his brother's shell. He wrapped it around twice around the top of the shell, behind the base of Leo's neck. He tied it as tight as he could, trying to make sure it was pulled together enough.

He didn't quite feel confident in that, so he decided to untie his own mask, overlapping it on top of his brother's and tying it twice around as well.

After that, he felt like it might hold somewhat, and felt comforted with that.

"There." Raph said lightly, running a finger down the visible crack that wasn't covered by their masks. They were pressed together now, not broken apart like they were.

"Does it feel any different?" Raph decided to ask.

Leo hummed thoughtfully, "Can't . . . tell."

And without any sort of warning, he crouched on the ground, pushing off the ground and using the wall for some sort of support. Raph clenched his teeth, anger beginning to seeth at his brother's stubborn refusal to ask for any help in getting up.

"Just, hold on for a second, man!"

The red banded turtle shot up, grabbing hold of his brother's arm and lifting him up the way he had earlier, arm over his shoulder. Now standing, he looked around the cavern. The water had yet to catch up to them, if it was ever going to. That's good.

"We should . . . try to get to higher ground." Leo mumbled quietly, eyes sticking to a particular tunnel close by, but they moved to the other three, unsure. Four different tunnels lead away from the cavern they were in. They came in through one, and now they had to decide which one to leave through, "The signal . . . may come up . . . then. Send a . . . reply."

Raph waited a moment, thinking that his brother was trying to figure out which way was the best choice, but when no answer came, he began to doubt Leo even knew which way they came in through.

Leo sighed, a muffled, completely exhausted sound, "Which way do you think . . ."

And Raph wished he could say he was surprised. He wasn't. Deciding to go off of pure luck, he chose a random way, and began walking towards it, "This way."

They walked for a while after that. The tunnel they chose was colder. Raph thought that might be a good sign. It was winter, so that might mean they were closer to the surface or some type of drainage thing. But, no matter how long they walked, or how long they searched for that way out nothing came up.

What did come up, however, was a hard metal object seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Raph ran face first into the metal bars, stumbling, and taking care to catch Leo before he fell over.

Raph swung his arm out in front of him, trying to grab hold of the metal object he had run into without being able to actually see it, "What the He-"

"What was that?" Leo asked, holding out the T-Phone in front of him and turning it on. The light shone bright in the tunnel, making both brothers squint. Still, with the light turned on they were able to see exactly what Raph had run into.

"It's a ladder." Raph said dully, sort of hurting because he had managed to run into a flimsy, grounded object without even seeing it.

The ladder was covered in rust, going higher than what they could see in the limited light. Judging by the gunk and grime coating it in layers, the two of them guessed that it hadn't been used for a while.

"It's a way up." Leo said suddenly, running a shaky hand across a bar at his level. Raph, however, jumped at the remark.

He pulled Leo, given a little more roughly than he would have preferred, away from the ladder immediately upon getting the gist of what he was planning, "You aren't actually thinking about climbing that thing, are you?"

Leo peered a him with a dissatisfied frown, sweat building on his forehead already from their short trek, "Yes."

Raph blinked at the simple answer, forgetting his frustration for a second, but it returned quickly, "Are you crazy? There's no way you can make that climb!"

"I . . . have to, Raph."

"No, we can find another way out. Just a little more walking and it'll probably be there."

"Raph, we need to get . . . to higher ground." Leo mumbled, snatching his arm away. Raph panicked for a second, thinking his brother was going to topple over without his support, but long and behold Leo stayed standing without any help, straightening his back in a way that dared for Raph to try and help. "When we get to higher ground, we may . . . be able to contact Don and Mikey."

Raph thought on that, looking back to the ladder. It looked rickety. Like it would snap if it was tapped. Raph knew that wasn't true. He _had_ run right smack into it and it was still standing just as it had been before his face made contact, but still.

"Okay, let's say I let you make the climb." Leo raised an eye ridge at that, looking almost humored by his brother's stubbornness, not quite though, "How are you expecting to actually make that? You can barely hold yourself up, bro."

Leo's frown deepened, "I'll manage."

Raph snorted, turning away, "Right. Of course you will."

After a moment in the silence, and after having to force himself to even consider such a thing, Raph sighed, "Fine, but you're going first."

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I mean . . ." Leo reached towards his brother, pulling at the grappling hook tied around his belt. They never really went anywhere without them. At least nowhere without any rope, yet Raph seemed to have forgotten the small thing completely, "No. I have another . . . idea."

It took a good five minutes before Raph was satisfied with the knots and everything else with the rope tied around his brother's plastron. By then, he was starting to wonder about his own problem. His arm. He still didn't know what was wrong with it, though he had already guessed. He just hoped that whatever it was, Don could fix it. But, that did introduce the problem. He was going to have to _climb_ with a bum arm.

He tried to push the thought to the back of his head. If his brother who had practically been completely crushed by the fallen rubble could do it, then why couldn't he?

Raph took hold of the closest bar, testing the support of it before setting his foot on it. Before he knew it, he was completely on it, hanging from the tall metal death trap. He put one hand upward - his bad arm- and pulled.

He felt like his arm had been set on fire. Burning, bubbling. Horrible. He tried. Oh, he so tried, but despite his trying he cried out. A loud sound in the complete stillness of the underground. He could hear his brother inhale sharply, stilling in his own movements at the sound. No, he didn't want this. Now Leo was going to-

"Raph, what happened?" it was quick, and the most he had sounded like himself since they began trying to find a way out.

 _Great,_ Raph thought pressing his head into the bar in front of him, _now Fearless is going to be worrying about me._

His arm now hung limply at his side. Raph was going to take a break for a sec, and he was hoping his brother wouldn't ask any questions until then.

" _Raph_ " he said sternly, "what _happened_?"

Raph sighed. No way Leo was going to just let him say, "I'm perfectly fine! No reason to worry o' brother dear!" Nope. He was going to have to confess . . . -ish.

"Leo, don't worry about it. Just a little . . . sprain."

"A little . . . sprain?" Leo asked, his voice almost mocking even in its exhausted sound, "Don't lie, Raphael. You're . . . hurt. What happened?"

 _Oh, his full name,_ he rolled his eyes _._ Raph felt the metal ladder vibrate under his hand and feet. Leo had grabbed hold. For support? To assert his dominance or whatever? He didn't know. But he bowed his head in defeat, "I hurt it in the fall."

"What?" Leo's voice turned back into that "mother hen" sort of thing, "Is it broken?"

"No." Raph sighed again, hating this more than he realized he would, "Not broken. Maybe fractured, though. Something, but Don can take care of it when we see him."

"Can you-" he paused, and Raph knew _exactly_ what his older brother was going to ask. He held back the need to smack Leo upside the head.

"Leo, if _you_ insisted on climbing, then there's no way _I_ can't climb, too."

Raph thought Leo might object in some way, but he didn't. He stayed quiet, and a few more trimmers of the ladder later, the two of them were climbing up. Slowly but surely.

* * *

It wasn't very long until the rope around Raph's plastron grew tight. He could feel himself supporting his brother for the most part, struggling to pull himself up to the next bar over and over again. Still, he felt more content knowing Leo wasn't forcing himself to do something he couldn't do. It was sort of ironic how Raph's struggle was more comforting than not having one.

Raph stopped, pausing in his ascent and wrapping a leg around the bar for support. He was tired. Exhausted. His arm was on fire.

"Sorry . . ." came a mumbled whisper from below him, and Raph immediately knew that tone of voice. It was the type of voice Leo got whenever Sensei scolded him for something. When he knew Splinter was disappointed in him, except now Splinter's point of view was passed to Raph.

The red banded turtle sighed heavily, pressing his forehead to the disgusting bars, "For what?" he was only partially interested. Leo was like this, he'd beat himself up over the smallest of things even though everyone else couldn't care less.

"I . . . said I could . . . handle this." Leo said, voice raspy, and when Raph looked down passed the space between his knees he could see his older brother, hand wrapped around the bar, still trying to support him, "Apparently . . . I can't. Now you . . . have to carry . . . me."

"Naw, Leo." Raph objected, not hesitating for a second, "Don't worry 'bout it."

Raph only needed a short breather, something to alleviate the ache in his arm and the tension in his limbs. After a moment he began climbing again, and not long after that he saw the glimmer of a light above them. At first, he wasn't too sure what it was. Some sort of faint red glowing, but as he continued to ascend he saw that it was indeed a construction light. Something that would be for workers in case something went wrong in the sewers.

 _Man, they're going to have their work cut out for them now._

"Hey, Leo." Raph called down, smile bright on his face at the sign of this torturous venture being over. The tunnels around their home were filled with lights like these. It wasn't a sure thing that they were home, but it was a possibility they were getting closer, "we're almost there."

Leo didn't say anything, and Rap swallowed the lump that built in his throat. _Stop it, Raph,_ he told himself, _the guy's exhausted and probably just wants to be quiet. He's Leo after all._

They were almost to the top. A few more bars and they'd be there. At the top. No more bars. The top. Raph kept telling himself that, but, as luck would have it, that's when the sound went off. Feet. Running passed the opening in the ladder.

Raph ducked down instinctively, even though he was well out of the sight of whoever they were. He knew it wasn't Don or Mikey. The two of them would be trying to be twice as stealthy as usual. Heck, even Mikey might. Raph could admit that when the situation called for it, his two younger brothers wouldn't disappoint. He'd been shown that plenty since they first came to the surface. Plus, those feet couldn't possibly be them. Too many sounds of splashing coming from completely different directions. There was a whole hoard of . . . things running above them.

Raph's face drew into a scowl, his hands tightening onto the bars, a jolt of pain going up his injured arm. That could only be the Foot. Some soldiers who got cut off from the main group? Or maybe they survived the fall and found another way up, and since they didn't have any means to slow them down, them not exactly being human, they got up much faster than Leo or Raph could've possibly hoped to.

 _Great_ Raph thought, reaching out for the next bar, _just when I thought our situation was looking better_.

The red banded turtle was sure he couldn't hear anymore foot stomps above before crawling up through the hole in the ground, and finishing his ascent up the ladder. He crawled on his hands and knees, being sure he was far from the hole before collapsing onto the filthy, wet ground. He was exhausted. He never thought a ladder would make him this tired, but here he was, feeling like his arm was ripping from his body, and everything else feeling like wet noodles. Ugh.

The rope around his waist began to slacken, and Raph didn't quite notice it until a loud grunt from behind him echoed in the small tunnel. The scraping on fingers against wet concrete, and Raph was already halfway up on his knees, turning around back to the hole in the ground.

"Here, Leo." he mumbled absently, grabbing under his big brother's arm and taking his other hand, "Let me help."

Leo didn't say anything, actually allowing for Raph to assist him to safety, and Raph was thankful Fearless wasn't trying to put up his "I'm fine" shirade. Once Leo was completely off the ladder and into the tunnel, he was reaching for the T-Phone. Raph watched, trying not to get his hopes up, as Leo held the phone in his hand, the glowing light illuminating the small area, nearly blinding the two turtles.

Leo's face was scrunched up, looking dead tired and yet had the focused look in his eyes. Raph tried not to stare, but when his big brother's face loosed, a small relieved smile appearing he couldn't stop.

"You gotta be kiddin'!" he accidentally yelled, forcing Leo to jump in surprise. Raph ripped the phone from his brother's hands. He had completely forgotten about everything else except sending that S.O.S. message to his other two brothers and friends.

He typed as fast as he could, hoping that the signal for them wouldn't just disappear randomly mid-message. As soon as he was finished, he pressed that send button and a huge, momentous weight was lifted from his shoulders. He made contact. They could track them now that they had a signal. They were going to find them. They were going to get home!

Raph read that message over and over and over: " _im here with Leo. hes hurt. can u find us?_ "

 _Please say yes,_ he thought, nearly crushing the phone in his hand with the amount of force he was grasping it with. He felt like the world was suddenly going in slow motion, as he waited for a response. He could only wonder what it was like for everyone looking for them to not get a response immediately, especially without knowing if they were alive or not.

They were probably all freaking out. Mikey, Donnie, April, Casey, Splinter . . .

The phone flashed, a new box appearing with Don's name. He had only sent it to him, not wasting time with sending it to the others. If just one person got it, that was plenty. And it really was. Raph exhaled long. Very, very long and he could've collapsed right there.

" _Raph! We have a signal. Just hang tight where you are. I'll tell the others. We're going to find you two. Just hang on."_

"Hey, Leo." Raph said, voice quiet, but his relief was evident, "Don got our message. We're going to be home soon, okay?" he paused, waiting for a response.

He turned his head to where the rope around his waist led, "Leo . . . ?"

Raph hadn't even noticed, but Leo had dragged himself all the way to the wall, and there he sat, leaning heavily against it, completely passed out. Raph bit his lip, watching his big brother look so drained. He didn't like it.

So, Raph just sat there in the silence. Listening to his brother's heavy, whistling breathing and looking around him absently. Don had told them to wait where they were, so he was going to do that, but he wasn't going to like it.

* * *

So, Raph had known he was tired. He had definitely felt it in his bones and muscles when he got inside the tunnel, but he didn't know he was _this_ tired. Waking up laying splayed on the tunnel floor, not even knowing he had fallen asleep. It was pretty trippy.

A hand was immediately pressed against his forehead. His headache was only getting worse. Obviously sleep wasn't helping the fact that it felt like his head was being ripped apart internally.

Still, rolling over onto his side, he saw Leo lazily slouching against the wall he was leaning against before Raph fell asleep.

With a low rumble from the back of his throat, Raph got up onto his knees and stood in the small tunnel. Donnie said for them to not go anywhere, or something along those lines. Even after spending probably a few hours dozing off, they still weren't here? What was keeping them?

He scratched his arm dazedly, looking at the two directions the tunnel went. Maybe they should try to find somewhere more open? But, Leo was sleeping . . .

Raph stood there for a long second, trying to figure out what their next move should be. He checked the phone. No new messages, but he did see something concerning in the top right-hand corner. Battery. Low.

"No." Raph mumbled quietly, grasping at the phone like a lifeline, "Damnit . . . not yet!"

And that was when it happened. The quiet, small tunnel suddenly exploded. Not literally, but it may as well have. Shuriken came flying at him like a fog. Raph barely had enough time to duck down in the hopes that his shell would protect him. He reached behind him, blindly groping for something of his brother so he could pull him to safety in front of him. So he could _shield_ him. But, the shuriken stopped before he got the chance.

Raph spun around, knee-pad scraping against the concrete tunnel. Foot soldiers. He had guessed it earlier, and here they were.

"Leo!" He yelled, eyes wide. He had to run this time, he didn't have a choice. Raph grabbed his brother by his hand, tugging for him to stand, but nothing. Leo didn't wake up. Raph lost his breath, glancing at his sleeping brother.

"Leo, bro. We have to run!" he didn't have time for this. Not caring for Leo's "boundaries" or whatever, and the fact that his arm was going to hate him after this, Raph swept him up, one arm supporting his upper body, the other his legs. He tried to ignore the pounding in his head and arm as he rushed out of the tunnel, more shuriken being thrown at him and the sound of quick feet splashing down the tunnel right at him. He lunged off of the small descent into a wider area that was completely flooded.

They were still coming. They were gaining on him. Gaining. Closer. Closer. RIght behind him!

Then he tripped, or fell rather. He hadn't even seen the quick fall in front of him, then again it _was_ extremely dark in there.

They went tumbling down before cold water encased him. The red-banded turtle spluttered under the water, grasping out for his brother again. _Leo!_ he yelled in his mind, _Swim damnit!_

He got his brother by something . . . his belt, he realized, and dragged him to the surface. It was a rough circumstance. He couldn't seem to get up to the surface of the water, and he knew the footbots were still up there, looking for them.

Finally. _Finally_ , Raph's head broke the surface, and he sucked air into his lungs violently. Leo was pulled up immediately after he had his wits about him, and then he was looking up. Above in the tunnel stood dozens of foot soldiers staring down at them. Raph grimaced, turning away and began swimming for the tunnel on the opposite side of the watery death-hole.

Raph lobbed his arm up onto the cement ground of the other tunnel, pushing Leo up into it before he could get himself up. He rolled a few times, trying to get himself far enough onto the tunnel's concrete before assessing where their enemies were again.

Raph reached for his sai, feeling defenseless. Then he remembered: they weren't there. He lost them in the fall.

That left his earlier decision to be the final one: he had to run away.

Teeth clenched and every instinct in him going against his decision, Raph turned back to his brother, grabbing him under his arms like he had before and began dragging him down the tunnel at as fast of a pace as he dared.

This place was even more dark than the lower parts of the sewers. No electricity ran through here like they had somewhat in the lower parts. Something wrong with the circuitry maybe. He thought there would be at least some emergency lighting, but there wasn't even that.

Pitch black.

He couldn't see. He couldn't figure out where to go. He couldn't really _think!_

Raph growled, letting go of Leo with one of his hands and punching the cement wall to his left. He drew back again, seething as he did so, and punched the cement again. Frustration was eating at him. _Fear_ was eating at him.

With a slow sigh, the red banded turtle turned his shell to the punched wall, and slid down until he was sitting on the cold ground. He sat his brother up against his shoulder tentatively and rubbed his own temples in thought.

They were probably far enough away from the footbots now. Even if they somehow got around the water, it would still take a while until they caught up with them. That meant he could just sit and rest for a couple seconds. Minutes . . . minutes probably.

The T-Phone. Raph pulled it out from the pouch at his belt. He tried turning it on, but . . . nothing. Not a flicker of the screen. No sound, no light. Dead. Broken. Whatever.

Raph bared his teeth, "No, no, no, no, you gotta be kiddin' me . . ."

He tried some more, pressing every button on the device, but nothing worked. Not even banging it on the stone floor . . . _surprisingly_.

Out of a fit of rage, Raph squeezed the phone in his hand, chucking it at the far side of the tunnel. It collided, crashing sound echoing down the tunnel, then it fell to the ground, screen cracked and pieces broken off of it. If it wasn't broken before, it probably was now.

Raph stared at it for a long second, mix of satisfaction, horror, and regret. Even so, he turned away from it, rubbing his hands across his face in exhaustion.

And that was when he heard it.

"What . . . was _that_?"

Raph's head shot up, face turning at the still form of Leo beside him. A blue eye he was somehow able to see in the blackness stared back at him, other still swollen shut. No matter, Raph's face split in two with a giant smile.

" 'Bout time you decided to come back to the living!"

Leo gave him a lopsided look of confusion, blue eye moving away from him and taking to looking at his surroundings, "What was . . . that?" he asked again, picking his head up from his brother's shoulder, and sitting up.

Raph watched nervously, glancing back at the area the broken T-Phone would be a little ways away. Oh, geez.

"Just, uh . . ." Raph thought about it, how he should word it, "the . . . T-Phone is, uh, broken . . ."

Raph didn't quite know how he expected Leo to react. He did know, had it been a normal day where he broke something, Leo would chastise him. Lecture him about his "temper" and what not. Stuff that made him really just want to bash his brother's face in. But, the patient, defeated sigh that came from Leo instead was even worse in Raph's opinion. The red banded turtle sunk back, head ducking ever so slightly. Since when did Leo's contentment or lack thereof matter to Raph?

He knew it wasn't really his fault it was broken, but he felt like it was all the same. _He_ hadn't broken it first, but he did end up chucking it at a wall, no doubt finishing the job.

"We're in a different place . . ." Leo mumbled quietly, blue eye electric in the pitch blackness.

Raph nodded, "Yeah."

"When did we . . ." his brother's tone seemed lost, confused, something completely unlike the leader, "When did we move?"

Raph swallowed thickly, "Ya were out of it, but a bunch of Foot showed up randomly, so we had to run for it."

Leo stayed silent, apparently displeased with this. Raph didn't really blame him. He knew that _he_ was on the verge of panic. Leo's little "not waking up" thing was reminding him too much of when he went crashing through April's window.

The memory sent chills running up Raph's spine.

"So . . . how far are we . . . from our last location . . . then?"

"Not sure." Raph answered simply, "Just kinda ran, y'know."

A small exhale from Leo sounded off, and it took Raph a second to figure out what had happened. Leo had laughed at him . . . _at him?_

"To think . . ." Leo made the exhale sound again, "that I missed . . . the one time . . . you would run away . . . from footbots . . . _voluntarily._ "

A small, tired sounding chuckle, and Raph felt relief melt into his heart. Relief? He didn't quite understand why that was the first feeling, considering his older brother was teasing him, but maybe it was just hearing Leo laugh down in the dark. After being battered to the extent he was, he still found the energy to tease and laugh at his little bro.

Raph smiled for a split second. This wasn't like April's apartment that fateful day. Leo was here. With him, completely conscious and _alive._

Raph collected his thoughts, pretending to be angry, "Hey, it's not like I had much of a choice. I had ta drag your sorry butt outta there, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Leo responded, an out of place warmness clear in his voice, "you did."

They sat there in silence for a solid minute before Leo spoke again.

". . . Thanks . . ."

Raph turned his face towards him, eye ridge raised in confusion, "Heh?"

Leo cleared his throat, settling himself in a more comfortable position against the wall, "Thanks . . . for dealing with me . . . down here."

Raph stared into the blackness, eyes wide with surprise. Leo was _thanking_ him? About helping him in such an obvious way?

" 'Course, Leo" he mumbled quietly, quickly adding to hide his slight embarrassment, "After all, I'm sure Master Splinter wouldn't have been happy if I got home with ya still stuck down here, right?"

Leo hummed thoughtfully, "Right."

"So," Raph tried continuing the conversation, he wanted to keep hearing his brother's voice, to know that he was in fact alright, "What's the, uh . . . what's the plan, o' fearless leader?"

Leo was silent for a second. Thinking no doubt, as he always did.

"Well, we have . . . a few options . . ." Leo said, and Raph waited for him to continue.

"Which are?"

Leo cleared his throat, "We could . . . stay here."

Raph did not like that option. He made a disatisfied sound with his throat of which Leo snorted at, "I'm guessing that's . . . not exactly . . . what you had in . . . mind?"

Raph pouted a little, puckering his lips in a dissatisfied way. On one hand, if they stayed Leo could rest, and maybe Don and Mikey would somehow track them there even with the broken T-Phone. It seemed dry enough there, also. And, even with the darkness, there didn't seem to be any threat _at the moment._ That being said, Raph didn't like the idea of the footbots still probably coming after them. They could be heading their way right that second, and they wouldn't even know it.

And he did _not_ like that, "Not really."

Leo hummed uncaringly, "Okay, then . . . we could move on." the older turtle let out a wet cough, making Raph cringe at the idea, "Try to find our way further up. Since . . . we probably fell farther down . . . in your escape. Then, we won't . . . have to just . . . wait for Don and Mikey."

Raph's frown deepened, "Not sure I like that idea any more . . ."

He didn't like the idea of making Leo move at all. He hadn't liked that idea since they ended up down there, but he'd moved his brother plenty already, and he was beginning to wonder how much more Leo could take without getting a proper check up with Don.

"Then," Leo sighed, "we could wait here . . . and fight off the footbots."

Raph exhaled heavily, "Say what?"

In all honesty, Raph was pretty sure Leo didn't like the idea just as much as he didn't, but that didn't stop him from talking to his older brother as though he were completely crazy, "We . . . could wait here and-"

"I heard what you said, Leo." Raph snapped, cutting him off.

Leo remained silent, probably just staring at the wall in thought . . . or no thought. Who really knew?

Raph sighed thickly, "Do ya really think that's a good idea?"

Leo remained silent for a while, but once he realized Raph was waiting for a response, he said the only reasonable thing he could think of, "We have to pick . . . an option, Raph."

"Well," Raph was beginning to get irritated, "what other options are there?"

The silence that overtook his brother was different than what had become normal in the dark depths of the sewers. This one was . . . ominous. Raph shivered, though he didn't know why.

After a moment, Raph quietly went, "Leo?"

His older brother responded immediately, "You could . . . leave me . . ." Raph froze, hand clenching into a fist, "go and find . . . Don . . . Mikey . . . April and Casey . . . and Master Splinter . . ." slowly, the red clad turtle rose to his feet, "bring someone back here . . . to help. That way . . . I wouldn't slow . . . you down-"

"Like Hell, Leonardo!" Raph burst out, fist colliding with the concrete wall again.

Raph didn't have to be able to see Leo to know what his older brother's face looked like. Startled, confused, maybe even irritated. All these expressions in their own Leo esc way. He could only see the outline of Leo's face, and maybe where his eye was, but other than that, pure imagination.

Leo was very quiet in his response, "That way . . . you could get to safety . . . faster."

"I don't care about speed, Leo. I care about _both_ of us getting home, no matta how long it takes."

Leo growled, and Raph was a bit surprised by the feat, "What . . . do you want me to do, then?"

"Come up with another option!"

"There . . . are no other options, Raph."

"There's always another option!"

Raph heard Leo's shell scrape against the concrete wall, him shifting, "I said . . . _all_ our options, Raph. Leave, stay, fight, or . . . _leave me_. Whether you like it . . . or not, the last . . . option might work . . . the best. I'm _slow_ Raffael." Him saying that seemed to hurt him, his voice quivering slightly at the admission, and Raph tried butting in to stop his brother, but Leo would not give, " I have to . . . get you home before dehydration, . . . infection of _your_ wounds, or . . . even exhaustion get to . . . you. That's _my_ _job_." Again Raph tried saying something, no longer angry, but simply trying to calm his angered older brother down, but Leo's voice overpowered his, "I don't know how much longer I . . . can go trudging . . . with you through . . . these sewers, Raph! Every moment I'm awake . . . I feel myself getting . . . weaker! Eventually . . . I'm just going to fall down and-"

And dry, hacking, body rattling cough hit him. Gasps of breath, and a low whine echoed in Raph's ears, and soon the younger was kneeling in front of his brother, hand finding his shoulder and holding a steady grip on it.

Nearly an entire minute went by until the racking coughs passed, that was when the gag happened. Raph had half a sense to get away from Leo's front, and move to his side, completely away from the area that was soon the victim of Leo losing his . . . whatever his last meal was.

It all passed, leaving the older turtle to sit there, sucking air into his lungs greedily. Raph chose to say nothing, remembering what his older brother had said.

" _Every moment I'm awake . . . I feel myself getting . . . weaker! Eventually . . . I'm just going to fall down and-"_

Raph closed his eyes sadly - _and not be able to get back up._

Leo's breathing evened out slowly, and he stayed put. Probably feeling really horrible (as if he wasn't before), so he allowed for Raph to stay there, hand steadying him.

Raph grimaced as he felt how hot his brother's skin had become under his hand. How could he have not noticed until now? Fever? He wasn't really surprised, actually. His mind hadn't exactly thought about it, but with how much they had been wading through disgusting water, and all the wounds on his brother, what else did he expect? Raph wasn't exactly great with the whole medical thing; that was Donnie's area of specialty, but he knew what a fever was and what could cause it. Infection, plus whatever else was wrong with him . . .

It was definitely not good.

After a moment, Raph decided. He decided very easily, actually. After his brother's outburst, and the stench of what he had hacked up began filling their area of tunnel, it became clear what Raph was going to do.

"Well, bro." Raph sighed, one hand going to support his brother's arm, while the other went around Leo's waist, "guess I made my decision."

With slow movements, he managed to get Leo up onto his feet beside him, and a second later, they were walking down the tunnel, Leo following his brother without a word of refusal.

"No way I'm leavin' ya in this place."


	3. Part 3

**I lied *teehee*. It's going to actually be in 4 parts now. And I have the entire 4th part left to write, so in the meantime . . . here ya go!**

* * *

". . . Sorry . . ."

"Huh?" Raph turned, a little surprised when his brother finally spoke. He had lost track of how long they had been walking this time, and Leo hadn't said anything 'till now. He accepted the silence, just continuing walking with his own thoughts to keep him busy.

Leo stood a little straighter, "For . . . my little outburst . . . back there."

Raph sighed gently, "Don't worry 'bout it, man."

"No," Leo insisted, "I have to. You . . . didn't deserve . . . that."

Raph laughed lightly, "I think I might've just a little bit, Leo."

Leo hummed thoughtfully, sinking back down to lean on his brother, the heat radiating off him sending a chill up Raph's spine, ". . . maybe a little."

Raph smiled, though it soon faded as he asked his brother, "Where do you think all of them are?"

"The footbots?"

Raph shook his head, "No, I mean Mikey, Don, April and Casey . . . and Sensei?"

Leo grunted, "I'm sure . . . they're trying their hardest . . . to find us, Raph."

"Well," Raph sighed, reaching his hand out to the wall to his right to make sure they didn't pass a turn, "I know that. Just, do ya think they lost our signal since the T-Phone broke?" Raph had grabbed the broken phone before they left just in case Don was still able to somehow track them. He felt the shattered device in his pouch on his belt where he usually had his T-Phone.

"If they did . . . they will still . . . look for us." Leo said, voice completely sure, though the tiredness told Raph the topic was weighing in on his older brother. It also told him that they would probably have to stop for a break soon, whether Leo liked it or not.

"So, what are you going to do first thing when we get back?" He wanted to change the topic; have Leo think of his plans for the future. That way, he could stop thinking about their current situation. It might do him some good, after all. Plus, Raph could use thinking of something else, also.

Leo didn't respond immediately. He had been doing that more and more. Taking a longer amount of time to respond. Raph wasn't exactly sure why, and he decided not to press on it, since Leo nor him could do anything about it anyways.

"I think . . . I'm going to have . . . some tea." Leo finally responded.

Raph deadpanned, an expression of disdain showing clearly on his face, " 'Course you are . . ."

"And . . . watch some . . . Space Heroes." Leo continued.

Raph couldn't help but smile at that, "How's about I join ya, hm?"

Leo quirked an eye ridge, twisting his face inquisitively from where it was pressed against Raph's shoulder, "Really?"

Raph's smile widened at Leo's disbelief, "Yeah, and we can have Mikey get us a pizza. Whatever type you want." Raph kept talking, imagining the warmth of the lair and how great it would be when they _finally_ get home, "And we can watch an entire marathon of Space Heroes. Get Mikey and Don to watch, too. Maybe even April and Casey? How does that sound, huh?"

Raph could feel Leo's mouth curl into a smile on his shoulder, "That sounds nice."

"And now that I have the idea in ya head, no way I can back out later." Raph continued dramatically, making it seem like such a burden, even though, if it made Leo happy right now, he would spend as long as his older brother wanted hanging out with him.

Leo laughed lightly, "I'll be sure . . . to mention that . . . if you try."

About that was about when Raph felt the wall to his right bend into a turn. He was sure to tug Leo gently in that direction so that he understood where they were going. The red banded turtle expected for the tunnel to continue to be completely pitch black, but once he looked down the length of it, he saw lights near the end. _Light._

"Oh, thank God." he mumbled quietly, seriously getting sick of the darkness surrounding them. The lights weren't anything great. Dull, yellow glows, but it was enough. It was _plenty_.

"What's up?" Leo mumbled into his shoulder, apparently not as in tune with his surroundings as he usually is.

No matter, "Light, that's what. About time, getting really sick of not being able to see anything."

If he walked a little faster than he had been, Leo didn't mention it. Raph was excited. Light meant they might be on the right track to getting home. All he had to do was find one familiar place and they'd be fine. They'd be _home_.

The area that was illuminated was a small intersection of tunnels. Posters were plastered to the walls, some falling down. Everything was damp from water canals running through it, fungus was everywhere, and pieces of wall were breaking off. It was a real dump. A _sewer_.

"So," Raph began, "think we should stop here for now, Leo?"

Raph already really knew what the answer would be, but that didn't stop him from sighing when Leo said, "No . . . I can keep . . . going."

Raph couldn't help rolling his eyes, knowing that was a complete lie. Leo was trying to hold on to those few stands of pride he had left, but all Raph really wanted him to do was let go of that and just tell him if he's tired or not. _Obviously_ he was tired, and Raph knew it.

"This might be the only wide open place we find in a while, Leo. Do you really want to rest in the cramped sewers again?"

Leo said nothing, raising his head and taking back all of his weight. Raph watched nervously as his brother stood next to him without any support, studying the open space.

Leo looked terrible, Raph noted. He hadn't seen him clearly for a long while, and now that he did, he finally connected how Leo was obviously sick to how he looked. His one open eye had deep bruising below it, and his skin was an unhealthy shade of green, especially in his face. Raph's eyes flicked to Leo's shell which was still being held together with their bandanas. He swallowed thickly when he noted how the crack had grown.

Leo apparently noted how his brother was staring at him, and understood why. With an uncomfortable side step, he motioned towards the left-most tunnel leading out of the cave-like section of sewers, "How about . . . we go through . . . that one?"

Raph diverted his attention from his thoughts to what Leo had said, "Ya sure you want to do that?"

Leo wavered on his feet slightly, reaching out with his hand and catching himself on Raph's shoulder, "I'm asking . . . what you think."

"You know what I'm thinkin', bro."

Leo frowned, "I mean, other . . . than staying here, . . . Raph."

Raph hesitated, catching Leo's eye with an unsatisfied look, but Leo held strong. He wanted to keep moving. He didn't want to slow his younger brother down, and the only way to do that was to show Raph that he could keep going, even if all he really wanted to do was sit down and go to sleep forever.

Raph gave in, moving Leo's arm across his shoulder and began walking towards the left-most tunnel, "I guess I'll listen to your instincts then."

Leo had tried to keep up his act by taking on most of his weight for a solid 20 minutes, but it soon faded into his relying on Raph again for support. His younger brother didn't mind in the least; in fact he prefered it. Better that than Leo hurting himself.

Eventually, they came to an awkward inclined slab of about 7 or so feet. Raph stared at it like it had just offended him along with everyone else he knew and then some.

That being said, he set to work immediately, letting Leo lean against the near wall while he charged at the wall, running up it's height and grabbing onto the ledge at the top. He pulled himself up, rolling a few times before getting up onto his knees and reaching his hand down for his brother.

Leo watched him, pushing off from the wall and half running a few step before jumping and catching his brother's hand with a rough gasp. Raph pulled as best as he could without hurting his brother more, getting an arm under his free arm once he was up far enough.

Then he half dragged Leo up onto the slab along with him.

"That" Leo gasped once he was up on his knees, ". . . sucked."

Raph laughed lightly, "Yeah, I know, bro."

The younger brother stood, bending down, hand ready for his brother to take. Only Leo didn't take it. Raph frowned, kneeling back down cautiously.

Leo jerked, arm going up to his mouth as a loud series of wet coughs rattled his frame. Raph flinched away for a moment, unsure as to what was happening.

It was fast, loud coughs dwindled down to smaller ones before the final cough sounded off, echoing in the tunnel.

Raph leaned in then, watching as Leo turned his face away, breathing in and out as deep as he could.

"Um," Raph mumbled, leaning in further to accommodate for Leo's hiding, "you okay, Leo?"

Leo wiped an arm quickly across his mouth, turning to look Raph in the eyes a second later, "Yeah . . ."

The older tried hiding his arm behind him, but Raph saw it before he could completely. The dark colored splatter. Red. Running across the area Leo had wiped his mouth.

Raph stared, eyes wide, until Leo tried standing on his own. That snapped Raph out of it real quickly. He hooked an arm around Leo's middle, hefting him up along with him.

Once they were standing, Leo offered a shaky smile, "Don't . . . worry 'bout it."

And Raph could have laughed, because how on _earth_ could he not "worry 'bout it"?

* * *

The tunnel they took had emergency lights every 10 or so feet that provided a satisfactory amount of light for Raph to see by. It also kept his spirits up that they were getting closer to home, or at least the surface.

Those spirits were up for a long time, up until one faulty step on Raph's part sent both of them falling to the ground. Raph caught them luckily, clenched teeth and an awkwardly bent leg, but he stopped them. Leo was down on his knees, arms actually clinging to Raph.

The younger exhaled thickly, "Sorry, Leo. Missed a step or something."

Raph moved to get his brother back on his feet, pulling on his arm, but he grew confused when Leo didn't at least _try_ getting up. Sure, Raph for the most part dragged him to his feet every time, but Leo would grab onto him, and try and help in whatever way her could. Now though, now he just sat there, eye closed.

Raph stood above him nervously, "Leo?"

In one movement, Leo's arms fell from his brother, and he toppled over onto his side, face smacking into the cement floor. Raph hissed, arm retracting in surprise before he fell down to his knees beside his brother.

"Leo?" Raph mumbled, shaking his brother's arm in panic. It was just so sudden. Sure, Raph knew that Leo was tired and all. _Obviously_ he was tired. _Exhausted._ But, Raph wasn't expecting this.

Raph pressed his hand against his forehead, trying to make himself focus. What was he supposed to do? _Leo just passed out._ He wasn't moving. Before, Leo had gone to sleep first and wouldn't wake up. Now he just full on passed out.

" _Every moment I'm awake . . . I feel myself getting . . . weaker! Eventually . . . I'm just going to fall down and-"_

" _-and not be able to get back up."_

Raph breathing became rampant. He needed Donnie. He needed Sensei. He needed _someone._

Without even thinking, Raph stood up and darted for the cave-like room he had wanted to stay at. Walking at Leo's pace, it took them about 20-30 minutes. With him sprinting, it only took around 3.

He burst from the tunnel they had gone it, panicking and breathing hard. His eyes darted from tunnel to tunnel, wide with the mixture of emotions that were hammering into him.

He took a deep breath and, "DONNIE!" he screamed, his voice echoing through the tunnels, "SENSEI!", and again he continued to yell for help. Over and over, but no one answered. No one came. No one walked through those tunnels like some sort of messiah.

He was left there, breathing roughly, looking lost. Inevitably, he began walking back to the tunnel he came from, continuously looking at the other three in case he'd catch a glimpse of someone. Mikey or April's orange bandana or hair, Donnie's purple bandana, Casey's stupid mug, or even Sensei's protective eyes.

But nothing. He went running back through the tunnel, calming ever-so-slightly as he did.

When he made his way back to Leo, he noted how he hadn't moved an inch. And when he kneeled beside his older brother, and pulled him into his lap, he also noted how the heat radiating off him had only gotten worse. _Everything was only getting worse._

With a voice thick with emotion, Raph swore to Leo, "You're gonna be fine, bro."

And in that moment, though he had told Leo, he was moreso telling himself.

* * *

The sounds down there were often that of water drops colliding with concrete, stones falling from decaying walls and structures, or just silence.

All of them were somehow finding a way to annoy Raph.

He kept his ears ready for any change in the sounds around them, just in case. His fingers drummed on his brother's arm without his knowledge.

Raph had stopped himself from dozing off plenty of times since he'd sat down. At first, he was too freaked out to even consider thinking, but eventually his fatigue started making itself known, and he found his head bobbing in a dozing manner a few times. He was going to take a seriously long nap when they got back home.

Leo had begun shivering a lot, much to Raph's concern. He knew what was happening. With a fever, the internal body temperature sky rockets to kill off infection, making it so that everything feels a lt colder to the person than it actually is. To Raph, the sewers were a bit chilly, but they were probably freezing for his brother.

Raph didn't know exactly what else to do other than wrap his arms around the older and hope it was somewhat comforting.

He really wished someone who knew what they were doing were here rather than him. Not that he felt burdened or anything. Sure, he hated being there just as he was sure Leo hated it, he only wished Leo had someone with more of an idea on what to do. He was probably the least qualified out of their family . . . other than Mikey that is.

Who was he kidding, Mikey might even be a better choice than him.

Raph sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. He wanted to do _something_. Benefit them in some way rather than sit here. He wasn't even sure if he _was_ warming Leo up. If he was doing _anything_.

Maybe . . . maybe he could scout ahead? That way he could get a better idea of what was ahead, but that would mean leaving Leo where they were . . .

He decided after a few seconds of thought. With a heavy sigh, Raph picked Leo up off of his lap and set him on the ground in front of him.

With only a sidelong glance, Raph began fast walking down the tunnel. The lights that were still working well in the tunnel made it so he felt more calm about traveling ahead a little so he knew what was coming.

Nothing seemed different for a long ways, the concrete floors that were for the most part dry seemed to stretch forever. Small latrines on the side of the tunnel were the only signs that they were actually in a sewer. They were probably in a section of sewer that workers came down to to fix issues in the flow and what not. Raph wrinkled his nose. Disgusting.

But, that might be a good thing. If this was in fact a section of sewers that people operated at, then they could be near the surface. It might not be the greatest option, but if they found a manhole, they could crawl up to the surface. They would probably want to wait until night, and then they could figure out where exactly in New York they were. After that, just find their way to a familiar manhole and they'd be _home._

The thought made Raph sigh with relief.

He had it in his mind that that would probably be the case up until he saw the tunnel end up ahead, stretching into what looked to be a huge room. The pipes on the side of the tunnel grew thicker and more complicated as he got closer to the ending.

He had half a mind to turn around and go back for Leo, but he wanted to check out what was in this large place first.

Cautiously, Raph stepped up to the room's entrance.

He was right. Very, _very_ large room.

A staircase stretched around the cylindrical room, wooden and wearing down. Some steps were even missing from their places and the railing was hanging down at some places. Below, a festering pool of boiling water and pipes threatened anyone who may fall from the staircase.

Raph followed the rickety walkways to where it led. On the other side opposite from him a few rounds of stairs up was a wide opening. Not a tunnel, no. More like a passageway for people _coming from the surface._

Raph smiled, side stepping over to where the staircase was. One foot on the old wooden structure caused the entire thing to creak and moan at the weight. He immediately retreated from going any further, eyeing the structure like it had just offended him in a very personal way.

Could they really walk on this thing? Two of them? He could barely put _any_ of his weight on it before it started acting like it was about to break from the concrete walls and fall to the murderous water below.

It was very loud in the room, the water crashing and splashing below him in large waves before being sucked down into a pipe to go get sent to . . . wherever it was taken.

Raph's mind suddenly got an idea. He reached for his belt, finding the rope he had managed to keep. Could it be long enough for them to somehow use it to get across?

Maybe he could give Leo one end of the rope, and go on the staircase alone, making sure to be careful in his footing without worrying about Leo. Once he got to the other end he could tie the rope off and let Leo use it to get himself across.

Raph immediately began questioning the idea. Could Leo even hold himself up at this point? He's been having to lean on him for support on everything, so how he could even manage climbing across with the rope?

Raph recalled the ladder climb they took earlier. Leo had managed to get up for a short time, but eventually he had to rely solely on his brother. And that was when he didn't have half the problems he does now.

He couldn't do it, Raph decided. No way. And feeling how long the rope was, Raph was pretty sure it wasn't long enough anyways,

A creeping feeling of hopelessness began weighing on him as he turned on his heel, preparing to make his way back to his brother. They were going to have to cross through here somehow. He figured it was so far their best bet, but they would just have to figure out a way on how to do it.

In the meantime, he had to go back for his older brother.

Raph made sure he didn't mistake any of the small turns along the way as the way to get back. Didn't know how he _could_ , but with how their luck had been holding up for them so far, he didn't quite doubt that becoming a reality.

Raph stopped walking at a strange sound approaching him. It was an interruption to the constant silence and stillness that he had started getting used to. Footsteps. Slow ones at that.

Raph tensed, they had to be footbots. They found him? And . . . _Leo!_ It felt like his breath was being forced from his lungs, heart suddenly beating in his ears. They got to Leo. He left him, and they got him!

Getting into a prepared stance, Raph charged at whoever or whatever to thing coming at him was.

Blue met green and Raph skidded on his heel to a stop. He took a deep breath, rubbing a hand across his forehead and staring at the figure in front of him, "Leo?"

He had two hands supporting him while leaning against the wall, but he had managed to not only get up on his own, but walk the distance he had. His blue eyes tared at Raph for a long second, blinking lazily before he responded bluntly with, "Raph."

Raph could have cheered with joy. His brother was up! Looking at him and _walking_! _Talking-_ ish.

Without another word, Raph stepped up to his brother holding his hand out for him. Leo took it gratefully, closing his eye in a way Raph could clearly see was relief, "I . . . woke up, and . . . you weren't-" a coughing fit broke out, Raph flinching at each body rattling hack.

"Yeah," Raph said after a second, "I was- I was just scoutin' ahead . . . sorry I just, uh, went and left ya there, bro."

"No." Leo said once he had recovered enough, "no, you're . . . you're fine, just . . . freaked me out's . . . all."

Raph could tell just by looking at his brother that he was having trouble actually making his way through a sentence. His eye looked glossy, and kept closing for long intervals. And he would stare at Raph for a minute after he would say something, as though it was taking him a long time to actually piece together what he had said.

And, of course, this was probably pretty aggravating for the older turtle. Mr. Perfection not being able to string a sentence together properly . . . that isn't something that's bound to be pretty.

"Um," Raph muttered, shaking his head to stop himself from staring at his brother the way he was, "are you feeling better? Maybe?"

Leo blinked at him several times, and much to Raph's surprise, a small curve of a smile appeared at his lips, "As well . . . as I can . . . I suppose."

Raph nodded once, "I guess that's good."

Leo moved to sling one of his arms across his brother's shoulder, nearly falling into the younger as he did. Raph didn't mind, and definitely didn't even consider mentioning it to his brother. It was enough of an effort apparently for him to just support a portion of his weight, Raph wasn't going to hurt his ego on top of that by being sure Leo understood how obvious his weakness was. The thought of it made Raph grimace.

Raph started walking forward at a slow pace, ignoring the way Leo's feet stumbled, "I found a possible way out up ahead a little ways." Raph said, and waited a second in case Leo wanted to say something. When nothing was said, Raph continued talking, "I think it might be where workers go to check on the pipes and what not. That might mean there could be a way to the surface passed that."

". . . if we run . . . into . . . workers?" Leo asked quietly.

Raph bit his lip at the broken and completely un-leo-like sentence, "That's not exactly on my list of worries at the moment, bro."

Leo hummed in response, clearing his throat and leaving Raph to finish what he was saying.

"So, it might be our best bet right now. We get to the surface, and find a familiar manhole to go in. Bada-bing, bada-boom we're back home." Raph held a hand out, steadying the two of them on a wall when Leo's feet caught on each other, he continued without missing a beat, "There's just a little problem with actually getting to the point where we know if there's a way to the surface or not."

Leo's head shifted on his brother's shoulder, "Pro . . . blem?"

Raph sighed, "Yeah. We'll figure it out when we get there. Don't worry about."

Raph stopped walking again, for the second time since coming back for Leo. Something was behind them. Something coming fast and coming loudly. _Somethings._

Raph turned his face to face behind them, noting how Leo did the same. With Leo by his side now, there was only two things that could be. Their rescue party, or . . .

A shuriken came flying out from the dull light a distance from them, landing at their feet.

Raph grabbed hold of his brother's side-

"Footbots!"

* * *

"Leo!" Raph called, stumbling over his brother's lethargic movements, "You're going to have to try to go faster, man!"

That seemed to click something inside Leo, because after his younger brother said that, the older seemed to muster up whatever strength he had left and pushed off the ground much swifter, and much steadier than he had been previously.

It startled Raph. The stubbornness of his brother was so great it could even force him to beat his current predicament. Raph didn't even have to support his brother at the moment, so he let go, turning his head to the few dozen footbots that had found them.

"How did those that manage to find us?" Raph suddenly screeched, quickening slightly so he could see his brother's face.

Leo didn't respond, but he didn't exactly have to. It was pretty evident he wouldn't know either. Just ahead of them was the entrance into the large room Raph had found. Leo stared at it, knowing he just had to run for that much longer until-

 _ShWoOsH!_

The shiny metal star flew by his head, startling the turtle into tripping over his own feet. He was mid-air for a split second before colliding with the ground in a pile of tangled limbs. He let out a rough gasp upon impact, immediately knowing he had screwed up.

Raph heard the pained sound, and skidded to a stop upon hearing it. Spinning on his heel, Raph inspected what had happened and lunged in to help his fallen brother. Leo was already trying to get up, but the foot was gaining on them quickly. To quickly.

Cringing, Raph grabbed hold of Leo's arm, yanking him up to his feet again. He didn't have time to apologize upon hearing another pained gasp, but instead began dragging Leo with him once again by the hand.

Leo didn't complain though. He ran again, a little less swiftly as before, but it didn't matter. They were where they had to be within the next few seconds.

Raph turned his head again, seeing the footbots still gaining on them. They had continued in throwing the stars at them. If they were rushed in here, they could make a big mistake.

Leo staggered off to his side, leaning against the concrete wall for support. Meanwhile, Raph ran over to the broken staircase.

He sideways glanced his brother, "Leo, start doing what you do and think of a plan!" with that, Raph stomped hard on the bottom stair, braking the wood in half. He tore them from the nails holding them to the others and carried them to the mouth of the tunnel.

He wasn't sure if it would really do any good, but with a strong whipping motion, Raph chucked one of the wooden halves at an unsuspecting footbot. It ended up knocking it's feet out from under it. Without a moment to waste, Raph threw the other one, hitting another footbot in the head, actually bending it's neck and sending it sprawling to the ground. With two footbots down on the ground, the few right behind them tripped, immediately starting a blockage in the tunnel.

Raph smiled, skipping backwards to his brother, "Did you think of anything."

Leo was in the middle of digging in his pouches on his belt, his hands were shaking and the eye that looked at Raph was drooping, "stairs are . . . only way . . . across." he said, taking what he was digging for out of the pocket and handing them to Raph, "We're going . . . to have'ta . . . cross."

Raph took what Leo was handing him, eyeing the stairs while he did, "You sure that's the only way there is, man?"

Leo gave a short nod, "Yes, so . . . we'll have to . . . go slow. So . . . we don't . . . break . . . them and-" Leo quickly reached out with his hand for Raph, sort of flailing for his support. Raph quickly reached out to accommodate, catching him just in time. Leo blinked at Raph, breathing out slowly, "'Cause, I don't . . . think I . . . can go . . . _fast_."

He seemed disappointed as he said it, so Raph didn't pry and simply looked to see what Leo gave him. His ninja stars. Raph ran out, but Leo still had his remaining.

Understanding, Raph stepped towards the stairs, "Alright, nice and slowly then."

He skipped the place where he had taken the stair from, flinching as the second step moaned at his weight being added to it. Even so, it didn't snap. Even when Leo's weight was added a second later, it stayed in tact.

"Every three . . . steps there's . . . metal . . . support beams." Leo said quietly, "Try to get . . . to those . . . by skipping . . . steps."

Raph squinted, counting three from the step he was at. Locking onto his target, he moved to lunge for it, but not before he heard the footbots behind him. He panicked, stepping to the next step instead. The board creaked, shaking, getting ready to fall as the first footbot charged at them.

Raph panicked again, but the board didn't fall before Leo shoved his brother to the initially targeted board. Raph stared at his brother in shock as he stood alone without Leo.

Leo didn't hesitate, kicking at the boards in front of him weakly, but strong enough to snap them from their places.

Raph held a hand out that wasn't able to stop his brother, "Yo, Leo! What're you doing?"

Leo's eyes met Raph, and he slammed his back against the wall, out of the way of his brother's aim. With perfect, leaderly clarity, like he usually spoke with, Leo yelled, "Throw a star, Raph!"

Without hesitation, Raph complied, throwing the star at the footbot gaining on Leo. It buried itself into it's head making the two behind it stop in their tracks to calculate what to do. In the meantime, Leo locked eyes with Raph again, a fire in his eye= that Raph hadn't seen since they ended up down here, "Hold out . . . your hand, and . . . get ready."

The two foot boards were out from between Leo's board and Raph's, so the only way for Leo to get to Raph was to jump. Raph understood, holding his hand out. Leo had kicked the boards out so that if the foot got to him first, they wouldn't be able to follow Raph so easily, but now he had to make up for his actions.

With a deep breath, Leo jumped off of the stair, it breaking at the movement below his feet. He reached for his younger brother's hand. As soon as they felt each other's hand in their own, the two of them grabbed on. Leo pushed off the wall with his feet, landing on the board. He stumbled, almost falling off, but Rah quickly caught him by the upper arm, hauling him back onto the stair.

"No time . . . for breaks." Leo quickly said, snatching the rope for Raph's belt. Raph took one end, understanding that without words the rope was going to be used as a lifeline. One of them falls, the other's going to have to catch them.

Raph lunged for the next third step, holding on tight to the rope with his back hand so he could use his other freely. Leo was next, walking on the two in between steps so they would fall and break as he did.

Behind them, the footbots were still after them, one trying to jump for the 6th stair, which was the only one still left there. They fell. But, Rah saw them reaching for their grappling hooks, so he quickened his pace.

The pattern continued, as fast as they could manage, and Raph continued trying to motivate Leo to go faster than he could so they could get out of dodge faster. But, even with his efforts, Leo gradually got slower and slower. Raph could see the beads of sweat building on his forehead, and the concentration in his eye as he tried to keep up with his younger brother.

They were only about halfway when the footbots finally made it onto the staircase. The entire frame shuttered as they piled on, jumping from every third step. The railing broke free, flinging outwards, and some remaining stairs broke free. Footbots fell, but with their grappling hooks, they managed to catch on to little things above or connected to the staircase.  
Both Raph and Leo noticed all of this, but they couldn't go any faster than they were.

And that's when it hit him.

A sharp pain in Raph's upper arm with some sort of force that sent him stumbling off the board that he was currently on. The ninja stars fell from his hand, landing on the stairs around where he fell. Leo was too far away to catch his brother, so he held on tight to the rope.

"Let go of it, Leo!" he yelled, knowing his brother would hang on, even if he really _couldn't_. The whole point of the rope was to make sure _Leo_ didn't fall. _Not him_. Sure, it'd be nice not to fall, but Leo couldn't hold him. _He could barely hold himself up._

Of Course, that wasn't going to stop Leo from trying.

The initial moment the rope snapped taut was probably one of the worst pains Raph had ever felt . . . maybe. He hadn't had time to switch the rope from his bad hand to his good hand. He held on tight, the white hot fire spreading up his arm, sending dots across his vision. He reached up to take hold of the rope with his other hand-

And that was when the second drop happened. Leo had locked his legs, digging his heels into the wooden plank under his feet, but the weight _was_ too much for him. He was swept off his feet, his shell scraping against the two in between steps before they fell under him . . . almost.

He made it to the next step, arms hanging off the stair directly above Raph who stared upward with wide eyes, face scrunched otherwise as he tried to switch hands once again. The rest of Leo's body, other than the upper torso, hung off the opposite side of the stair.

The footbots landed on the step that Leo _had_ been occupying.

Leo gritted his teeth, eye locked on Raph's two. Sweat beaded down from Leo's forehead, his eye flicking to the shining metal blades that Raph had dropped before he fell. With held breath, Leo let go of the rope with one hand, holding on with the other like a vise. He growled, eye seeing the footbot getting ready to pounce at him. Right as the footbot lunged, Leo snatched the ninja star. As though it was slow motion, Leo rotated, half his body hanging in midair, and threw the ninja star. It hit point blank in the middle of it's head, shattering the metal and circuitry. The footbot fell from midair, flying down the shaft towards Raph who watched it fly by him.

Right behind the other one, another pounced. Using up his only remaining strength, Leo kicked at it, getting it in a roundhouse kick. His foot made contact, and the footbot flailed before falling down the shaft as well, splashing into the boiling water.

Leo panted, sliding off the board the opposite side of his brother. He reached weakly for the rope he was holding in his other hand. Behind him, he knew another footbot was coming at him, but he was . . . just too tired to fight him off too.

Letting gravity do its job, Leo slipped off of the stair. The footbot flew right by him and the board, missing its target. Leo felt the air rush by him as he fell, being balanced out by Raph's weight. Eventually he slowed, coming to a halt a little higher than Raph. Their two weights balanced each other out -more or less.

Re-gripping the rope to a tighter hold, Leo peeked down at his brother who tried in vain to climb said rope. His arm was too wounded now. Too messed up to do anything.

Raph noticed Leo's gaze, smiling sheepishly, "Come 'ere often?"

Leo blinked at him, feeling a shudder through the ropes right before Raph's expression turned dark. The older brother turned his head back up to look at the staircase above them. There, standing directly above their rope's midpoint was a footbot, blade raised high.

The air caught in Leo's throat, sending him into a wet, copper tasting, coughing fit, but he still managed to yell up to the footbot, "Don't!" in a failed attempt to stop him. Raph struggled to climb the rope some more as the blade went swinging down.

But, it never made contact.


	4. Part 4

HELLO!

Yep, I sort of abandoned all of you for, what, two-three months? Oopsie daisy!

Yeah, sorry about that, I've was unexpectedly busy for a few weeks, and then after that I couldn't find my muse for writing this. I didn't want to force out a poorly written chapter, so I ended up taking a little tiny break, but look! I've come bearing gifts of words and the FINAL CHAPTER!

GASP!

Hope you all enjoy :)

(Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT or anything relating to any part of the franchise.)

* * *

Somewhere in the midst of Leo's foggy mind, he wonders how lucky they must be at that moment. A loud slam sounds off, echoing down to him and his younger brother who had both taken to trying to find a way out of the mess. It seems they didn't really need to.

As the severed head of the footbot falls down towards them, shortly followed by the body sparking at the nape of its neck, Leo almost forgets about the quivering of his arms as he held on for dear life.

"Leo!" a voice that feels like a cool glass of water on a hot day yells, "Raph!"

And Raph seems to read Leo's mind and responds for the completely spent turtle, "Donnie, we're down here!"

"Yeah." he says, voice sounding apprehensive as he gleams over the stair overhead. His purple mask hangs past his face, "I can kinda see that. Just hang on, Master Spliter and I will get you up in a giffy!"

The rest fades into a blur for Leo. He can hear Raph calling things to Donnie and Sensei, and somewhere in the back of his mind he also catches his brother speaking to him. Though, he can't concentrate on the words all too well, he opens the bleary eyes he hadn't even realized he shut and stares at him, focusing to the best of his ability.

"Just hang on, Leo." he says, concern coursing through his green eyes, "Don's gonna get this done, then we'll finally go home, 'kay?"

And he wants to chastise Raph, because of course he's going to hang on. Of course he's not going to fall, and that's obviously because if he does, then Raph ultimately will as well. He's balancing his buff brother out; keeping him from falling just as he is himself. If one of them fails, the other will perish with him.

If he's learned anything from leading his three brother's through trialling missions, it's that he has to depend on them just as much as they do him. So, simply put, there's no way in Hell he's letting go of this rope.

More footbots end up falling down towards him, causing his younger brother to curse loudly when pieces rain down on his head. Leo holds his breath, praying that nothing hits him and knocks him off his end of rope.

The rattling in his chest that had been insistent from the very beginning seems to come back with a passion at that moment, forcing him to wince outwardly and slip. He grabs hold, harder, feeling like the bones in his hands were going to snap by how resilient his hold was.

He hears Raph's voice suddenly spike as he closes in around the rope once more. Try as he might, he can't hear the words exactly.

"—urry up would ya?" Raph's voice cuts through, sounding none too happy, and the next thing Leo knows is the feeling like he's being elevated. Not with hands, but just the air around him feeling different.

His mind swims in a dark cavern, eyes sealed shut, as the passed day's events weigh down on him. He feels . . . exhausted. Completely and utterly finished. His chest rattles on, a feeling like his chest being filled with water, and a harsh beating pulse in his head. Every thrum slamming against his skull almost in unison with every other ache running across his body.

All he wants to do is sleep. Forever, maybe. At least at this point he does.

Only when hands are grabbing at him, first three fingered, then four fingered with claws, hoisting him up while talking to someone —probably Raph— does he let himself finally succumb to the darkness trying to pull him under.

* * *

The walk back to the lair was not exactly taxing for the remaining three conscious mutants.

After having a relieving reunion with a catatonic Leo passed out in their father's arms, Raph insisted that they make it home immediately, saying how there was something very wrong with the older brother. And neither his father, nor Donnie could protest to that and began walking back.

"I just informed Mikey, April, and Casey that we found them." Donnie says only just a minute after they start their journey. It's directed at their father who nods with a simple tip of his head.

Leo's slung onto Splinter's back, arms hanging down their father's chest and eyes sealed closed in something resembling sleep, and Raph only catches a glimpse of him before Donnie's talking again, this time to him, "I'm going to have you explain everything that happened once we get back, Raph. April told us about the explosion to the best of her ability, but I'm still intent on hearing everything from you, too."

If Raph grumbles, he doesn't allow it to be very loud.

He's fairly certain that they were all completely panicking during this whole event. Maybe just as much as them, less, or even more so. He knows, had he been the ones searching for his family, he'd want to trade places with them in an instant and would if given the choice.

Some bit of him feels guilty at having put his father, brothers, and friends through this, but at the same time he just feels completely thankful they found them when they did.

"Yeah, I'll tell ya." Raph says, "And then I'm going to take a hot shower, and a nap."

Donnie smiles slightly at that, "First I'm going to check you over, right after I'm done with Leo."

And then Raph's sinking back into his feeling of unease, eyes quickly glancing at his prone brother, and he notices how Splinter catches him looking, a solemn expression on his own face.

And he knows that their father, even for being such a quiet man at the moment, must be dying inside just as much as him.

Raph hates it.

The rest of the walk is filled with Donnie's chatter about random events during their searching, and Raph can't force himself to listen to all of it despite actually being interested in what he's saying. The walk, finally safe with his family, makes him realize just how bone tired he is.

Apparently it wasn't just Leo who felt completely worn out.

Finally getting to the lair is interesting. April comes charging at them right away, practically tackling Raph to the ground when she wrenches her arms around his neck, pulling him into what, at first, feels like a death lock.

After a moment, Raph realizes it's a hug. Passionate, and tender. April holds him like that while Donnie explains to their father where to put Leo and everything related to that. He sees Mikey coming his way, too. And he also sees how his younger brother watches Leo and their father, anxiousness swarming his entire being as obvious as he is green.

April's face come to meet his, then, her pushing him an arm's length away with a firm hold on his shoulders, "Don't you ever do that again."

And he isn't too sure how to respond to that. Sorry? Won't happen again? Butt out, April? But, he's joined by his brother and Casey at that point, and begins getting bombarded by questions of his well being, and what had happened. He feels like he should be sensitive. After all, hadn't he thought not too long ago that he'd rather be in his own position than the ones his family and friends were in? Shouldn't he feel bad?

Yeah, probably, but he doesn't at that moment.

"Leave me be, guys." is all he says, pushing past them a lot gentler than he would otherwise in a different situation. They don't protest, but he knows they watch him as he heads for his room. Eyes trailing his every movement as he tries to hide the ache riddling his body, and the exhaustion peaking at every muscle.

Don't lab is still open when he walks by, and he finds himself looking inside, stopping completely in his tracks when he catches sight of the forms inside.

Don, hovering over Leo who's laying flat out on one of the tables inside. His father is standing nearby as well, and Raph has to stop himself from walking inside. He's done everything he can. He got his brother out, even if he needed a little help. Leo's alive.

He's done his job.

Now, he'd only be in the way, and so he continues his journey to his room.

* * *

At some point, completely without his permission, Raph completely passes out on his bedroom floor. He's half leaning up against his bed, and he feels the stiffness in his every movement when he finally comes back to the world.

Hadn't he been doing something?

Apparently not, since he felt that he was meant to be taking a nap.

A pounding sounds of on the door. Not a pounding, more like a hesitant tapping before Don's voice echoes in through it, "Raph, you there?"

"Yeah." he answers hoarsely, rising to his feet while his completely useless arm hangs at his side.

Opening the door, he finds his brother standing there, posture a bit tense as though he's expecting Raph to pounce on him or something, but he doesn't. He just quirks an eye ridge, leaning against his doorframe, "My turn, Doctor Donnie?"

"Well, to be precise, it's been your turn for well over three hours, but I felt like I could leave you alone a while longer."

The news is a bit surprising, but Raph feels himself slip out of his room the rest of the way and decides not to comment. He follows Don to his lab, noticing how no one else was in any part of the lair whatsoever, "Where is everyone?"

"Asleep." Don answers simply, "They didn't quite want to, but since it's 3 a.m. they didn't have much of a choice in the end. April was forced to come home by her dad. Same with Casey. And, Mikey passed out in my lab some time ago."

Raoh hums to himself, walking into Donnie's lab right behind him. Long and behold, Mikey's over in the corner drooling over one of the desks. Don cringes with a roll of his eyes, and motions for Raph to sit at a table far from the lightly snoring Mikey.

Raph does, and he waits patiently for Donnie to gather all of his things before coming to join him at the table, toolbox in hand filled with a variety of medical supplies.

"Your arm's hurt." he says immediately, and Raph blinks at how certain he sounds.

"How did you —"

"You weren't even moving it the entire way back, and even on the way here to my lab." Don explains, digging into his medical supplies, "That's unlike you. So, something was bound to be wrong."

And Raph feels somewhat delighted at his brother's observation of him, a small smile peeking at his lips.

Only when Don starts tending to his arm does Raph decide to speak about the thing truly bothering him. Vaguely registering the winding of the gauze on his arm, and the splint being forced into place, Raph asks, "How's Leo?"

Don immediately goes rigid, relaxing after a short moment and humming to himself, searching for an answer, "Not . . . very good."

"What do ya mean?" Raph presses, feeling like a cold hand was seizing hold on his heart. They were home. Leo was going to be fine. He was going to be sparring with him like normal here in a few days, "Where's he?"

Don sighs, pulling the gauze a little tighter, "He's with Master Splinter in the dojo having a healing session." he explains, something troubling him in his eyes, "He's going to be fine, Raph. Just . . . he was worse than I thought he'd be. I'm honestly amazed he was still somewhat conscious by the time we arrived."

Forcing himself to find out, because inside he knew that he had to know — he had to figure out what Leo was going through down there all that time — Raph forced out the question that had been eating him up for the past few days, "What was wrong with 'im?"

And Don suddenly become very, very still. Something that makes Raph's whole being freeze. Slowly, his brother returns to binding his arm, "Well, it's a little hard to explain . . ."

"I'm open to listening at the moment, Don."

With a sigh, Don begins, "There were the obvious things: bruising, cuts. That sort of thing. But, that's where it gets a little more . . . serious." he clears his throat, ripping the gauze in hand and securing it with a piece of medical tape to ensure it doesn't unravel, "There was trauma to his head. A concussion from what was most likely a fall, based off of what I currently know about the situation." he gives Raph a meaningful look, "Some fractures across various bones. His shin, upper arm. It would've been a similar feeling to how your arm was."

Raph exhales sharply at that, running a gentle finger up the gauze wrapped around his arm. This is what Leo had? He asks himself, picturing what he'd be like with multiple versions of his arm across his body, "Is that it?"

"No." the answer is immediate, and Rap feels like sinking a little into his shell at the look emanating off of Don's face as he digs into his medical supplies some more, "There were internal contusions, as far as I can tell. His shell, as you probably know, was cracked severely in both the front and back, and his spine, as a result, suffered damage. None too serious, but definitely not ignorable." Raph swallows thickly as he remembers his attempts at keeping Leo's shell from worsening. Their two masks ties together in a lousy attempt. He huffs at himself, wishing he could have done more.

"And then, there's the . . . collapsed lung." Don seems hesitant about saying it, brown eyes finding his and holding his gaze for the first time since he began speaking about their oldest brother, "The fall he took cracked his rib cage, despite his shell's protection. After so many impacts, the bone . . ."

He stops suddenly, perking up at Raph with eyes full of concern, "Are you okay, Raph?"

And he isn't so sure, but he knows he must be as white as a ghost at the moment. He can feel the chill running through his body as his younger brother speaks, and even now he feels like he might throw up. Is that an appropriate response?

Maybe.

"I, uh, can stop . . . if you want."

Now it's Raph who answers immediately with, "No." Certain he wants to know. He wants to understand. Not knowing would make him feel a lot worse in the long run anyways, "Keep going."

Hesitantly, Don does, "The bone tore through one of his lungs, collapsing it. It isn't necessarily life threatening with treatment, but it definitely isn't a good thing.

"Symptoms are shortness of breath, coughing—" Raph remembers the way Leo would always pause in his sentences every few words, and the coughing fits he would have every once and awhile, he feels himself grow paler, " — lightheadedness, fainting, fatigue. Things such as that, so it's no wonder he was out of it when we got to him, with everything else included."

And Raph feels himself nod numbly, agreeing in silence as he processes what's been told.

Leo had been walking around in the sewers — the cold and frigid sewers of New York — with all of that? How in the shell did he manage that? And, he managed to offer concern for him when they were about to climb a freaking ladder? Had he known, he might have done something different. He would have figured out different way of getting closer to the surface. He would have thought more. He would have planned something that would have gotten Leo out faster and safer.

A light touch to the side of his head startles Raph, and at first he believes it to be Donnie, fretting over him about some other injury, and he moves to brush away the hand. But, he stops, realizing Don's hands are both at his sides, and that he didn't magically sprout some third hand out of thin air . . . right?

"You are hurt, too, Raphael."

And he jumps, knowing all too well their father's ability to sneak up on unsuspecting people. Splinter moves his hand away at the action, smiling softly at the sight of his returned son.

Raph takes a deep breath, offering their father a level stare as he reestablishes himself, "No." he disagrees, "I mean, not really."

"Comparing one's wounds with another is unfair, my son." Splinter says, "Leonardo may be wounded, too. More severely, but that does not make your injuries meaningless."

And he shrugs slightly, not offering any objections, "How's Leo?"

"Your brother will be perfectly fine, Raphael." the older rat assures, resting a soft hand on his son's shoulder, "He is strong. He will recover with time. Rest easy, you've earned it."

Raph can't help but snort at that, causing Splinter to quirk an eyebrow in question, "With all do respect, Sensei, I don't feel like I've earned anythin'."

"How might that be?" he asks in return, and Raph can see Donnie's eyes on him just as Splinter's are. Confused. Concerned. Tired.

And Raph sighs, tenderly towards them, but harshly towards himself, "I didn't do anythin' to help Leo, Sensei. I just . . . let 'im hurt down there, and couldn't do nothin' to put a stop to it."

"Everyone had their strong suites." Splinter offers immediately, knowing full well that this is the mindset of the second oldest brother, and feels his heart reach out to him for his modest thoughts. Too modest, "You are not the only one with a lack of knowledge in medical practices. Michaelangelo's gift is the ability to connect with almost anyone, Donatello's is in the scientific arts, Leonardo's is in leading and tactical practices, and yours is to protect whatever the cost.

"It is not shameful to not have been able to do something, Raphael, because you did do something." Splinter smiles warmly at his son in the darkened lab, feeling a tenderness for the worn out green eyes, and the taught face looking apprehensive still, "You lead when Leonardo couldn't. You protected your brother in his darkest time, and you brought him back to us."

Raph forces his eyes to look away from his father's, biting his lip as his father speaks. And then the hand on his shoulder squeezes softly, and he finds himself looking back to his father as he says seven simple words.

"I am proud of you, my son."

And he feels himself crumble then, a tightness forming in his throat, but he shoos it away stubbornly. With a returning smile, Raph says, "I'm glad to be home, father."

"And I am glad to have you back." he says, releasing his son's shoulder, "Rest, Raphael. You have earned it."

The quick patching up of the rest of his wounds, and a hasty washing of the muck still covering his body seem to take forever, because right when Raph's head hits his pillow, he takes his father's advice, and dissolves into the dark realm of sleep.

* * *

When he wakes, Raph is forced into a detailed account of their every venture from down in the sewers. He may or may not skip over a lot of the details. For instance, his complete panic attack when Leo had fainted . . . yeah, he doesn't even hint at that. Definitely not that.

Still, he's pretty much completely accurate, choosing to skip on the more . . . gritty moments. He doesn't quite want to think of any of it, but definitely not those moments when he actually felt a little hopeless.

He swallows thickly once he's done, "Why exactly do you need to know all of this?"

And Don doesn't exactly offer a great answer, choosing to say it's for data or something. Raph doesn't try to hard to figure out what he means by that, and instead stands to depart, much too . . . done. Even for it being in the morning.

Actually, it's mid-day. He completely slept for the better part of the next day, sprawled out on his bed in soft heaven.

No regrets.

When he leaves the lab, the doors screeching as they roll back into place behind him, he's a little startled to see a green head poking out from on the couch in front of him.

Mikey is his first thought, and out of pure curiosity he approaches the form to see what they could possibly be watching on the television. Probably Krognard or some other crazy show he's found.

"Yo, Mikey." He calls, crossing his arms as he cranes his neck to see his younger brother, "What you watchin'?"

The head turns, and Raph feels himself freeze as two, wide blue eyes find his. Not Mikey's blue eyes, but the deep, darker blue of his older brother."

"Leo." he breathes, sagging slightly at the relief of seeing his brother up . . . sort of. Leo's sitting on the couch, one leg propped up with a pillow or two, and several blankets cocooning him in, which look to have been discarded by the turtle at some point.

Leo blinks, letting a small smile spread on his face, "Hey."

"Hey." Raph greets back, "How're you, uh . . . feelin'?"

Leo lets out a breathy sigh, "Tired."

"Yeah." Raph laughs a little, "I wonder why."

Leo turns away, and Raph takes it upon himself to hurdle onto the couch beside him, "Where's Splinter at?"

"Resting." Leo says simply, and when Raph gets a good look at him, completely void of his mask and leaning heavily into the couch, he can see exactly how worn he looks, "Apparently, he stayed up all night healing me." he grunts, "I don't remember really . . . anything."

Raph smiles when he hears how his older brother strings together a sentence after what seemed like forever. He had thought Leo'd never be able to do it again, but apparently his worries were completely worthless.

"How's your arm?" Leo asks, trying to reach for the remote a little ways away from him while he lets the question sit, "Did Don take care of it?"

Raph blinks as Leo completely fails at getting the remote, sort of amazed, but also feeling some kind of warmth at his stubborn attempts. He reaches forwards himself, grasping the remote in his hand, snorting at the pout Leo offers in response, "Yeah, last night. On the way to getting better already, eh?"

"Hopefully."

And Raph should be saying something about Leo's actions. He had promised himself he would. He swore once they were both safe, and Leo was more coherent, he'd definitely speak his mind about how stupid Leo's actions were. He got himself blown up after all!

And he supposes that, instead of rubbing a thumb over the buttons in the controller in his hand, he should be talking to him about everything that happened. He should bring up the wounds Leo sustained. He should speak about how goddamn worried he was. He should fess up his mind.

But, no.

He doesn't.

Splinter's in the other room, sleeping. Donnie's in his lab twiddling with things. April and Casey are probably on their way any minute, and Mikey's going to come bounding in with that annoying smile he always has.

So, for the time being Raph decides the chastising can wait. The lecturing and name calling can be put on hold.

Now he can just sit there with his older brother in the rare peace of the lair. In the safety of home.

"What're you going to put on?" Leo asks quietly, glancing with those big blue eyes at his younger brother.

And Raph feels a smile stretch across his face, "Space Heroes, of course."

* * *

Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited, or followed this either while I was writing this or long after I'm done.

Even though there was a long wait for a certain chapter *ahem* I hope you all enjoyed!

Adios!


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